The Jinchuuriki Alliance
by Hayoen
Summary: What if Konoha's jinchuuriki was raised by other jinchuuriki? What if Kushina's backstory wasn't what it seemed? What if, in her dying moments, Kushina gave her only child away to someone she trusted more than her village, more than the Third Hokage? Fem!Naruto and SasuNaru
1. Prologue

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

On October 10th, tragedy struck the Village Hidden in the Leaves. A day that should've been filled with joy was filled instead with grief and sorrow.

That day, their beloved Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was about to become a father. But there was a minor setback to his joy. His wife, Kushina Uzumaki, was the village's jinchuuriki.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage set up a precautionary barrier to protect the village and sent ANBU to stand on guard along with his wife, Biwako, who was to assist with childbirth. However, someone had received information and decided to take advantage of the fact that a jinchuuriki's seal weakened during childbirth and released the Kyuubi.

Minato took his newborn daughter to safety and went to find his wife. Taking her before she could be killed by the Masked Man after the extraction, he laid her to rest with their child. Minato put on his Hokage cloak and went out to battle the Kyuubi, but was held back by a minor battle with the Masked Man who extracted the Kyuubi.

After defeating the man with a Rasengan to the back, Minato went to face the Kyuubi himself. Kushina, however, went to help him, bringing along their newborn daughter. The two argued for a few minutes, the mother not wanting to place a burden upon her child as the father, while also not willing to place such a burden upon his only daughter, knew it was the only way to save the village he loved so much.

With the Reaper Death Seal, Minato sealed the Yang half within his daughter and the Yin half within himself.

And that brings us to this very moment, where Kushina and Minato are lying on the ground and waiting for death to take them, listening to their baby's cries.

"Kushina... I am truly sorry for placing this burden upon her," Minato said softly as his vision grew darker.

"It's alright, Minato-kun," Kushina murmured, staring up at the starry sky for the last time. The redhead was about to close her eyes for sweet relief from her pain when she felt footsteps land softly on the ground and run over to her almost soundlessly.

Kushina opened her eyes to see onyx ones filled with worry staring back into her violet eyes. She smiled, knowing exactly who it was.

The person above her whipped around at the baby's cry, and swiftly moved over to lift the child and quieten her.

"Take her..."

The figure's head snapped to Kushina and she knelt by the dying woman. "Are you sure?" she whispered in a soft, elegant voice.

Kushina barely managed a nod. "Even if I'm an Uzumaki, I cannot survive these wounds. I know Konoha will not treat her kindly for being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, no matter what Minato says. I know they will be too blinded by anger and hatred to understand. I want you to take her, and let her be raised by people... by people like her."

The figure nodded slowly. "Do you want me to leave a clone?"

"That would be good." Kushina fought for breath, fighting to stay awake longer so she could say something important she had forgotten.

"Her name is Naruko..."

The figure holding the baby lowered her head for a minute in respect of the woman's passing, and when she rose, she elongated her nails and made a light scratch on the baby's palm. Not enough to scar, but enough to bleed. With that blood, the figure made a single sign and an exact duplicate of the baby she was holding poofed into existence.

The figure nodded their head with satisfaction and placed the baby duplicate upon the altar the two deceased adults had made upon the sealing, and without a single sound, jumped away into the night.

* * *

 **(1) OMAKE:**

"You're late," a low voice said in reproach as a yellow flash touched down beside him.

"Sorry, I ran into a bit of trouble," the Yellow Flash — Minato Namikaze and the Fourth Hokage — said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"You alright? Kushina?" the first voice — Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha Clan and Konoha's Military Force, as well as Minato's best friend — asked in veiled concern.

"I'm fine. Naruko and Kushina are safe for now," Minato answered, his mind idly flashing back to when he had left his newly-formed family with a few ANBU — including his remaining student, Kakashi Hatake — and Fugaku's wife, Mikoto. _"Go — we will protect them,"_ the Uchiha matriarch and his former teammate had told him, her Sharingan activated.

"The boys?"

"Itachi has Sasuke, so they will be alright."

"Hn." Fugaku returned his gaze to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that was currently wreaking havoc on their home, Konohagakure. "So you have a plan, correct?" he assumed, activating his fully-matured Sharingan. "How do you want me?"

A small snort of amusement answered him, and Fugaku turned to see Minato's mouth twisted in amusement and barely-suppressed laughter.

"That wasn't—" Fugaku furrowed his brow as a sudden realization crashed down on him. "Did you just _laugh_ at innuendo? You _understand_ innuendo?"

"Of course I do," Minato said with a smirk, a hand flying to his chest as if affronted. "How do you think Kushina and I made a kid?"

"With you kicking and screaming?" Fugaku deadpanned.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I wasn't the one kicking and screaming, Fugaku," Minato answered with a slight smirk, his eyes narrowing a little as the unnaturally-bright blue orbs darkened to a navy-blue with smoldering intensity.

Fugaku stared blankly at his best friend, unimpressed. "...did you know you make the exact same face just before you kill someone?" he asked off-handedly.

Minato grinned, placing his hands on his hips as he and his best friend turned back to face the Kyuubi. "Well, Kushina says it's hot."

* * *

 **(1) This scene does not belong to me; it is originally a fanart/comic that belongs to** scurfaçage **. I found it on Pinterest and thought it was funny, so I included it as an omake. Most no-canon scenes and omakes will be my own (obviously) unless explicitly stated otherwise.**

 **A/N: Thank you to everyone who is supporting my new project, as well as the old ones.**


	2. A Family of Jinchuuriki

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **So, as Naruko is still a baby, some of the jinchuuriki might be different. For instance, the One-Tails' jinchuuriki and the Seven-Tails' jinchuuriki will be OCs, and Bee won't be the jinchuuriki of Gyuki yet. The rest will be the same, just with different ages than in canon.**

* * *

The only ones who can understand a jinchuuriki are other jinchuuriki. It didn't matter if they were from the Leaf, or the Sand, or the Rock or even the Waterfall. All jinchuuriki were treated the same in every village. That's why the older jinchuuriki decided to form a Jinchuuriki Alliance, unknown to the world. Every time there was a new jinchuuriki, they were added to the Alliance, regardless of who they were or where they came from. Right now, most of the jinchuuriki were teenagers, with the exception of one or two.

They were family, and they rejoiced, mourned and did everything together as a family.

That's why, when Kushina Uzumaki passed away after entrusting her child to the Jinchuuriki Alliance, they took it upon themselves to raise her by themselves.

As the figure who held the baby who was barely a day old approached the Jinchuuriki Alliance's base, another figure appeared at the door. He had sandy-brown hair and bright magenta eyes. He took one look at the face that was heavy with grief and immediately led her in.

When the two went deep enough until it opened into a house-like interior, the figure sank onto the couch while gently cradling their load. The sandy-haired boy left to fetch his other family members, and soon they all came into the "living room", waiting for the woman to explain. They were all grieving as they could guess what news the baby in her arms implied.

"So," the redheaded man around his early thirties spoke, breaking the silence. "She's gone, isn't she?"

The young woman on the couch nodded her head, and pushed back her hood to reveal dirty blonde hair, fair skin and onyx eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "Kushina's gone. She died protecting her village... and her."

The man walked over and sat down beside her, peering into her arms. Mesmerizing blue eyes met his, and he smiled at the curiosity that sparkled within them. He curiously but softly traced the whisker marks upon the infant's cheeks, chuckling when she attempted to grab at his finger. He waggled it for a second before letting her minuscule fingers latch onto his bigger one.

He looked up a snicker and found the sounds of amusement coming from the sandy-brown haired boy. "Never knew you were so fond of babies, Roshi-jiji," the boy commented with a slight smirk on his lips.

The redhead, or now known as Roshi, merely scowled at the younger. "I happen to _want_ to know Kushi-chan's daughter, Yagura. And stop calling me that, I'm not even that old yet!"

" _Yet_ ," Yagura snickered.

"Stop being disrespectful," a teenager with chin-length brown hair and brown eyes chided his fellow Kiri shinobi monotonously. He stood by the arm of the couch and blew a bubble through his pipe, watching with a small smile as the baby giggled and cooed. Not taking his eyes off the little smiling mouth, he asked, "Don't you have to attend training with Mizoru-senpai?"

Yagura frowned at his best friend. "That's not until tomorrow, Utakata," he corrected, crossing his arms. "And I would like to get to know Kushi-chan's daughter as well."

"Her name is Naruko," the woman on the couch informed them. "Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze."

Roshi lifted an eyebrow. "Namikaze? So Kushi-chan married the Yellow Flash..."

"A problem, Roshi?" the woman raised an eyebrow with a warning edge to her voice.

"No no, not a problem at all!" Roshi exclaimed, recoiling and waving his arms. "It's just... the Yellow Flash is an enemy to the Rock. He's killed so many of our shinobi, and that doesn't sit well with many, of course. If people knew he had a daughter, and that he died before they could get their revenge on him, and add to the fact that she's a jinchuuriki... well, I fear for her life." Roshi gazed down at the cooing infant who was mesmerized by the bubbles Utakata created. He smiled softly at the carefree innocence she displayed.

The woman sighed. "Well, Kushina entrusted her to us. She didn't trust her own village enough to leave her daughter there, so we have to take care of her. It's our duty as Kushina's family."

"Well, I for one wouldn't mind taking care of her, duty or not," a young girl said as she sat down on the woman's right, smiling at the baby.

"Mio?" the woman glanced in surprise at the normally shy girl.

Mio Akiyama smiled at the woman. "You know, I've always wanted a little sister, Yugito-nee."

Yugito Nii smiled gratefully at the current jinchuuriki of the Seven-Tails, and then turned to the rest of her family for confirmation and their agreement.

Ritsu Tainaka, the jinchuuriki of the One-Tailed Raccoon, smiled brightly at her with a thumbs-up. Yagura Karatachi, the jinchuuriki of the Three-Tailed Turtle, gave her a cocky smirk, which was his way of saying "go for it". Roshi, the jinchuuriki of the Four-Tailed Ape, poked Naruko's cheek and Yugito took that as a yes. Han, the youngest of the bunch and the jinchuuriki of the Five-Tailed Horse, gave her a nod. Utakata, jinchuuriki of the Six-Tailed Slug, was still playing with the baby by entertaining her with his bubbles, so Yugito took that as another yes. Mio had already given her acceptance, so Yugito turned to the only one left.

He was standing in the shadows, leaning against the wall, a little ways apart from the group that had surrounded Yugito and the baby in her arms.

"Blue B?" she called softly, and was answered with a grunt.

Blue B was the current jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tailed Ox, and had trouble controlling his beast at times. He loathed himself for his lack of prowess when even young Han and Mio could subdue their tailed beasts to non-harmful levels, and when Kushina could fully restrain a beast stronger than his. While they all assured him that it wasn't because he was weak, he still thought himself to be and isolated himself from the group for fear of endangering them, despite their best efforts to include him in their little makeshift family.

Blue B raised his head slightly to see them all staring at him expectantly, and gave a heavy sigh as he pushed himself off the wall. "I have no problems with the child staying here."

Yugito raised an immaculate eyebrow expectantly. "You will also help in taking care of the child, you realize."

Blue B decided not to argue and nodded. "Yes, I will take part in her upbringing."

"And if I find you avoiding your tasks and this base, I will hunt you down and drag you all the way back here," Yugito promised, and Blue B knew she meant it, quickly discarding his earlier plan of pretending he was too busy to come around anymore. Not that it would've worked anyway since both he and the scarily perceptive female jinchuuriki lived in the same village.

Ritsu looked over at him and a smirk came across her lips as she lifted a hand. Blue B gave a start when he realized that the female jinchuuriki was manipulating her sand to bring him over to the group. Knowing from previous experience that struggling would do him no good, Blue B gave up before he started and walked over to them with a perfectly blank expression.

He glanced at the infant's face and immediately found himself unable to look away, lost in the depthless blue orbs that somehow managed to pierce into him and find his soul. The gaze never wavered, warmth and something that could only be described as fascination, or even adoration, glittered in the infant's eyes.

The surrounding jinchuuriki smiled as man and baby stared at each other. Ritsu let her sand fall away from the grip it was holding on Blue B's wrist, and somehow everyone in the room knew it was this baby, Kushina's daughter, that would be the one to change the Jinchuuriki Alliance.

For the better or worse?

They all had a feeling it would be for the better.

* * *

Yugito stood before a bubbling pot, the world outside the few windows already darkening. It had been around three weeks since she had brought the baby home, and already Yugito could barely remember what life had been like without the little bundle of sunshine. Despite being a mere month old, Naruko was already giggling at nearly everything, her bright smile was infectious and her simple presence could light up an entire room.

Currently, it was just the Kumo kunoichi and the baby. Everyone else was either checking in with their family — Blue B apparently was "forced" to have a weekly dinner with his uncle, the current Raikage and his son — or on a training trip with their personal sensei — Ritsu — or were on a mission as either backup or the original squad, as was the case for the remaining jinchuuriki.

It wasn't often Yugito had Naruko all to herself, and the Jinchuuriki Base did seem a little eerily quiet without them. But either way, come tomorrow morning, all jinchuuriki would once again be under the same roof. The mere thought of something that seemed so much like _family_ made Yugito smile. Despite the fact that nearly all of them came from different villages, they had all become close as close could be, and had their predecessors not decided to take action, they would've been strangers and not known the true meaning of love.

A soft cry startled Yugito out of her thoughts. Quickly turning the gas fire down so as to not overcook her dinner, Yugito swiftly stepped out of the kitchen and strode down the hallway, past two doors and stopped outside the third on the left.

Opening it slightly, the nursery came into view. Due to the Base being in... well, a _cave_ , the nursery was quite small, but the jinchuuriki had decorated it best they could — the floor was partially covered in a rug with a checkered pattern of beige and orange, and a white rocking chair with an orange seat cushion stood by the corner of a window that looked to the "backyard" of the Base, which also served as training grounds. Pressed into the far left corner was a small wooden cot with white railing. Four white boxes were under it, holding clothes and other necessities. A four-shelf bookcase was at the foot of the cot, holding toys and books. The walls were painted a soft orange, and two random frames were hung up on the walls surrounding the cot. There was even a fan on the roof for the unbearably hot summer days.

The soft cry grew louder and Yugito walked in, reaching down to quickly pick up the bundle of orange. A lullaby she had once heard somewhere in the distant past, she couldn't remember who from, floated to the front of her mind as she started to walk around the room while rocking the baby who had become like her own daughter.

" _Deep in the meadow, under the willow._

 _A bed of grass, a soft green pillow._

 _Lay down your head, and close your eyes._

 _And when they open, the sun will rise._

 _Here it's safe, and here it's warm._

 _Here the daisies guard you from every harm._

 _Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true._

 _Here is the place, where I love you._ "

The Two-Tails' jinchuuriki leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Naruko's forehead as she walked out of the room and to the kitchen.

" _Deep in the meadow, h_ _idden far away._

 _A cloak of green, a moonbeam ray._

 _Forget your woes, and let your troubles lay._

 _And when again it's morning, they'll wash away..._ "

* * *

It had been a year since Naruko Namikaze had been brought into the Jinchuuriki Alliance, and most of the members found themselves staying overnight most of the time. Unless you were a ninja of the Hidden Mist where you had training basically every day, much to Utakata's and Yagura's annoyance.

The little girl had quickly crawled her way into the hearts of each of the jinchuuriki raising her, and her bubbly laughter was heard nearly all the time. Strangely, she never cried, only laughing and gurgling.

Then came the day when Naruko said her first word.

"Buii!" she cried gleefully as the Eight-Tails' jinchuuriki was feeding her. The man froze and stared at the baby with wide eyes.

"W-What did you say?" he whispered in a cracked voice, too stunned to do anything else.

"Buii!" Naruko repeated, laughing happily.

"Y-YUGITO!" Blue B shouted, still staring at the baby in shock. Footsteps came thundering and the door was flung open, revealing a panicked blonde woman. More thundering and the rest of the jinchuuriki was right behind her.

"What happened?!" they all cried at the same time.

"Buii!" Naruko giggled. They all stared at her, then back at Blue who looked back at them helplessly.

"I think she said "Blue-nii"," Yagura said slowly, trying to interpret what the baby had said. She wasn't far off the mark, he mused, and the expression on Blue's face was incredulous.

"Me?" the man asked quietly, obviously still shocked.

"Well what do you know," Yugito chuckled, her body relaxing now that she knew that no harm had befallen her child. "Her first words: "Blue-nii"."

"That's beautiful," Mio smiled dreamily.

"She really likes you, huh," Yagura smiled as he walked over to poke a whiskered cheek. "And what about me, hmm? Where's my name in your little brain?"

Naruko gurgled. "Ya-Ya!"

Yagura blinked. "Wait what...?"

Blue burst out laughing, and everyone stared at him. Blue B _never_ laughed. Heck, he never even showed any genuine emotions so openly before today.

"S-Sorry," Blue chuckled. "It's just... Naruko said the first syllable of your name immediately after you asked that question, and you looked so shocked that I thought for a second what it would be like if your face froze like that."

Yagura gaped at the man as everyone else started laughing, imagining what the jinchuuriki had spoken of. And it was interestingly creepy how Naruko had immediately responded to Yagura's question. It made them wonder if Naruko was growing up faster than a normal child, since she was the jailer of the Kyuubi.

Yugito leaned against the doorway and let out a silent sigh, smiling with content as she watched her laughing family. She let her gaze rest on Blue's laughing face, and then it travelled down to the baby who was gurgling with childish happiness.

She allowed herself to be in awe once more at how easily the jinchuuriki could now be so openly emotional. Yes, they had been family, but they were still strangers. And then this baby, Kushina's baby, started to bring life and true familial bonds into the Jinchuuriki Alliance.

Yugito frowned as she thought about when she would have to tell her ball of sunshine that she bore the burden of being a jinchuuriki. The blonde quickly pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Naruko was still only a child, not even a toddler yet. She didn't have to know right away. She wouldn't even understand at this age.

The blonde woman decided to discuss it with everyone when she thought Naruko would be the appropriate age. Young, but not too young to not understand. And not too old that she would think her whole life was a lie. She had to be at the right age, the age where she had maturity but still held some childish innocence and trust, enough that she could quickly adapt to the truth.

* * *

"Okaa-chan!"

Yugito lifted her head from where she was reading a book in the living room couch, looking with a fond smile at the doorway where a blonde, whiskered four-year-old girl was running through. "Yes, Naru-chan?"

The jinchuuriki had quickly and happily adapted to the roles Naruko had given all of them. Ritsu and Mio were her "big sisters", Yugito was her "mother", Yagura, Han, Utakata and Blue were her "big brothers" and Roshi was her "grandfather".

"Okaa-chan, Blue-nii is coming home soon!" the little girl said excitedly. "Can you help me do something for him?"

Yugito looked at her "daughter" and asked gently, "Naru-chan, do you know what makes a place home?"

Naruko paused and thought about what her mother asked. "Home... is a place where someone you care about... is there to say "Welcome home"," she said at last.

Yugito's eyes widened a bit. She had been expecting Naruko to say something like "where your heart is", or "where your family is". She hadn't expected that answer, but Naruko was right. She just gave a different explanation on what her version of what home was.

So Yugito gave her a gentle smile. "Yes, Naru-chan. You're right. That's what home is."

Naruko nodded slowly, and realized what she could do for her beloved older brother.

A few hours later, when an exhausted Blue B came into the Jinchuuriki Alliance's base, he was surprised when the door opened just as he was about to push it. He looked down, surprised, and saw the large, sparkling sapphire eyes of his adoring little sister.

"Okaeri, Blue-nii!" Naruko said sweetly, smiling brightly up at him.

Blue's eyes widened and he stared at the little girl. He couldn't remember the last time someone had welcomed him home. Not his cousin, A... or his uncle, the Third Raikage, or _anyone_.

So Blue merely smiled and knelt down to the girl's height, ruffling her blonde spiky hair.

"Tadaima, imouto."

* * *

Six-year-old Naruko smirked deviously as she slipped out of her older brother's room, paint splattering her old shirt. She looked both ways before hurrying to her own room and softly shut the door.

There was a moment of silence before there was a roar: " **NARUKOOO!** "

The blonde girl cackled within her room as she quickly exchanged her paint-splattered shirt and shorts for an orange shirt and jean overalls, whipping her hair up in pigtails on each side of her head. Once she was satisfied that no paint was on her the slightest, she ran out of her room and found her fuming brother.

"Yes, onii-chan?" she asked innocently as she tried to withhold her laughter.

Yagura was covered in bright pink paint, a shade bright enough to match his eyes. And _Kami_ was he angry — he had just come back from a mission with tiresome teammates and a nagging sensei. He was irked at the fact that one of his temporary teammates was a fangirl, and that the other, Utakata, was merely laughing at him the entire time. And now he was covered in bright pink paint because of a prank that his little sister thought would be funny. _When_ and _where_ did she set up those paint bombs anyway? For the life of him, Yagura couldn't understand how she managed to set it up so when Yagura flopped onto his bed, paint would explode all over him. And what did she put in it, anyway? It was literally _impossible_ to get off.

The rest of his family members came running at his furious roar, and Yagura internally groaned. Thank Kami Utakata was doing the mission report right now, or he would never hear the end of it from that annoying brunette.

"Yagura!" Mio gasped, and then laughter overtook her when the boy turned around to show his front, which was completely pink. Bright, _fluorescent_ pink.

Everyone in the household absolutely hated pink. Yagura was, understandably, pissed off. But in all honesty, a pink-covered, pissed off Yagura was a funnier sight than a scary one.

It wasn't strange at all that Naruko had decided to use the household's hated colour — in fact, it was a common occurrence when she was making her pranks. Naruko was careful not to use the favourite colours of each individual jinchuuriki, since she didn't want to spoil it for them; Ritsu's favourite colour was yellow, Yugito's was amethyst purple, Yagura's was light grey, Roshi's was maroon, Han's was white, Utakata's was celeste blue, Mio's was turquoise, Blue's was emerald green, and Naruko herself liked orange.

"Yagura," Yugito said, struggling not to smile, "go and clean yourself. We'll have a... _talk_ with Naruko."

Yagura huffed, still angry, and threw a glare at a giggling Naruko before turning and slamming his bedroom door.

"Naruko," Yugito sighed, smile falling as she placed her hands on her hips. "You _know_ Yagura was tired and grouchy from that particular mission."

Naruko smiled brightly. "I know! That's why I did it!"

"What do you mean?" Mio asked.

"Well, I thought Yagu-nii might want something to cheer him up!" Naruko chirped happily.

Everyone started chuckling at the thoughtfulness of their blonde fox cub. She didn't go about it in the best way, but she was only six after all. They couldn't expect her to read the mood and act accordingly. She was a child, and her natural instinct was to cheer someone up when they were sad, regardless of what they wanted.

Suddenly, there was rapping on the front door and everyone froze, narrowing their eyes at the door.

Yagura's door was flung open to reveal said jinchuuriki clad in only grey sweatpants and a short-sleeved grey hooded jacket which he left open. If Yugito wasn't so wary with whoever was at the door, she would've scolded him for the "lack of clothing".

"Yo, is anyone home?" a young male voice called. "This is the Jinchuuriki Alliance, am I right?"

Yugito gestured for them to stay back and marched towards the door and flung it open, Utakata and Ritsu flanking her sides, the former ready to blow a bubble to capture the intruder and the latter already having her sand about to crush him.

He was tanned and had platinum blonde hair and shades, around between Yugito and Roshi's age. He was vaguely familiar to Yugito, but she couldn't place her finger on it. "Yo! I'm Killer Bee, jinchuuriki of the Hachibi!" the boy rapped while grinning at her.

Yugito's eyes widened as she processed the information. Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi? But that meant—

Yugito's hair shadowed her eyes as she softly murmured, "I see. Come in... Killer Bee."

Utakata and Ritsu, also understanding what his presence meant, stepped aside with subdued expressions. Ritsu's sand dropped as Utakata tucked away his bubble-utilizing pipe. Killer Bee stepped past them, looking around him.

Yugito placed her hand on his shoulder as a casual gesture, but she immediately drew herself into the boy's mindscape. _"Gyuki... what happened?"_

Gyuki opened his eyes. **"Yugito. What a _pleasant_ surprise."**

 _"Get to the point, Gyuki. What happened to Blue B?"_ Yugito demanded in a worried tone.

Gyuki sighed heavily. **"Blue B's sleeping pills were laced with genjutsu and they paralyzed him as some snake drew me out of him."** The Bijuu watched as grief overcame the woman's features, and he took pity on her. **"Blue knew that if he failed as a jinchuuriki, Killer Bee would be the next one. So he asked me, that if anything happened to him, that I tell you this: "** _ **Help Bee find that something to fill up that hole in his heart. It can be anything, just help him find that something to give him strength**_ **"."**

Yugito nodded slowly. _"I-I will, Gyuki. Thank you. For telling me."_

Gyuki merely grunted and closed his eyes as Yugito drew herself out of the boy's mindscape.

"Yugito?" Ritsu asked softly.

Yugito's eyes were sad as she turned to her fellow jinchuuriki who were all watching her with light apprehension. "This is Killer Bee. He's the new addition to the family."

* * *

"Naru-chan, we need to talk."

Seven-year-old Naruko looked up to see her mother staring down at her in concern. The blonde put down her book and sat up from where she was sprawled out on her bedroom floor. "What's wrong, okaa-san?"

Yugito hesitated slightly before sitting down cross-legged in front of the whiskered girl. "Naru-chan, I'm about to tell you something about everyone in this house, including you."

Naruko blinked. ' _Including me...? I wonder if it's about that voice that keeps me company when everyone is out on missions._ '

 **"Kit, focus! Your "mother" is talking,"** said voice spoke and Naruko hurriedly snapped to attention.

"Everyone in this house holds something inside of them," Yugito was saying. "We hold demons inside of us, and people like us are named jinchuuriki. Literally meaning, the power of human sacrifice. We have demons sealed inside of us to serve our villages, but more often than not we are not treated kindly. This is why we created the Jinchuuriki Alliance, so that all the jinchuuriki could find a home with people like them."

Yugito paused to make sure Naruko understood before she continued. "The demons we hold are called "Tailed Beasts". The number of tails they have indicate their power. The numbers go from One to Nine, and at the moment, every Tailed Beast has a jinchuuriki, or a jailer."

"So everyone here is a jinchuuriki?"

Yugito nodded. "Ritsu, for example, was the jinchuuriki of the One-Tailed Raccoon, until she died. Now his jinchuuriki is Gaara, which is why he came to us at the beginning of the year. I, myself, am the jinchuuriki to the Two-Tailed Cat. Then there's Yagura, who is the jinchuuriki to the Three-Tailed Turtle. Roshi, jinchuuriki of the Four-Tailed Ape. Han is the jinchuuriki to the Five-Tailed Horse, Utakata is the jinchuuriki of the Six-Tailed Slug and Mio is the jinchuuriki of the Seven-Tailed Insect. Blue B was the jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tailed Ox, but now the role belongs to Killer Bee. And you... you are the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Naruko nodded slowly. "But what about what happened to Blue-nii?"

' _That's right, we never actually explained to her,_ ' Yugito thought. "Well, when a jinchuuriki has their beast taken out of them... typically they do not survive the extraction."

"Extraction?"

"When a Bijuu is taken out of the jinchuuriki by force. Bijuu are basically powerful and very large beings made out of chakra, which is why you can't kill them. When the jinchuuriki has adapted to hosting that much chakra, it becomes deadly when such a large amount of chakra is removed so suddenly from them," the Two-Tails' jinchuuriki explained.

Naruko's eyes moved to her hands as she slowly comprehended what her mother was saying. "So... Blue-nii... was killed?"

Yugito's eyes widened. "That's not—"

"Yeah, he was. The voice said so," Naruko said quietly as her hands curled into fists and then released to show a flame flickering in her palm.

"Voice?" Yugito echoed, staring at the small flame.

Naruko nodded with some enthusiasm, the flame growing into a ribbon as it fluttered and twisted between her fingers. "When everyone's out on missions, the voice always talks to me and tells me jokes and keeps me company. We have a lot of fun together!"

Yugito's eyes widened. "Can you talk to it now?"

Naruko paused for a moment before a smile spread across her face. "He's quite indignant at being referred to as an "it"," she reported with amusement in her voice.

Yugito withheld a chuckle. "Well, when your mother was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, she didn't talk to it often so we didn't really know what it was like," she said without thinking.

"My _mother?"_

Yugito stiffened and then sighed. "Since today is a day for truths, you might as well know this one as well." She took a deep breath before speaking. "You didn't always belong to this family. When you were born, your parents were attacked by a masked man who was threatening the village your father ruled over. The masked man knew that a jinchuuriki's seal weakened during childbirth, so he chose that moment to attack, when your mother was at her weakest. Your birth mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Hot Habanero, and your father was Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Naruko was silent for a full minute. Yugito was starting to get a little nervous when a soft chuckle erupted from the blonde in front of her.

"Sorry, okaa-san. I-It's just... Kura-kun was just telling me about this time that my mom first visited him, and she scared the _crap_ outta him!" Naruko cackled. "She made it very clear that the cage was to protect _him_ from her, not _her_ from him. Damn I would've liked to see that!"

Yugito was too dumbfounded to scold her daughter-figure for the use of curse words, no matter how mild they were. "You're not surprised?" she asked at last.

Naruko shrugged. "What's there to be surprised about? I knew from the very beginning that there was no way we could all be family. I mean sure, some of us have similarities in our physical appearances and sometimes, personalities, but either way it's kind of impossible. And before you ask, it was Kura-kun who told me."

Yugito sighed with relief, feeling as if the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders.

Naruko tilted her head, a smile tugging on the right corner of her lip. "You were really worried about telling me, weren't you?"

Yugito smiled sheepishly and nodded. Naruko laughed and then got up, walking over to sit on a surprised Yugito's lap and put her arms around the woman's neck as she rested her head on her mother-figure's chest.

"Either way, you're still my okaa-san, Yugito. Always have been, and always will be."

* * *

It has now been ten years since the Jinchuuriki Alliance took in and started raising their little bundle of sunshine that brought them such joy.

By now, Naruko has already lost her remaining older sister — Mio the Seven-Tailed Insect's jinchuuriki. She was replaced with another girl her own age, which brought Naruko both joy and sadness as she had new playmates, but she had also lost her two older sisters. When Naruko was six, Shukaku's new jinchuuriki had arrived; a sweet, albeit occasionally cheeky, redheaded boy named Gaara with unique seafoam-green eyes. He was apparently the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage, and the seal masters in Suna were absolutely hopeless — worse than the ones who did Ritsu's seal — and the poor jinchuuriki had a cracked and unstable seal, according to the Bijuu himself. Naruko had always played around with seals after discovering her natural aptitude for it, but now she had a purpose to study seals, and that was to try and help ease her friend and brother's misery.

Chomei's new jinchuuriki was a bubbly, enthusiastic green-haired girl named Fuu, so very different from the shy and loving Mio. She was from a minor village, the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. She was quite similar to Naruko, personality-wise.

So it was only a matter of time before the three of them became inseparable. If Naruko was studying in her room, you would find Fuu and Gaara quietly playing in the same room. Basically, if you found one of them, you found the other two.

Now at this point in time, the family's resident Kiri shinobi had just come back from a mission. "Alright you," the shorter male snapped his fingers towards his room door, "we need to talk. Into my room, _now,_ " he ordered, grabbing the front of Utakata's neck and backing him into the bedroom. "What the hell was _that?"_

"What the hell was _what?"_ Utakata said blankly, blinking uncomprehendingly at his friend.

"Did you not see how our client was literally _molesting_ me?" Yagura fumed. "Hell, even _Mei_ saw and she tried to do something about it!"

Suddenly the door opened and Naruko, Fuu and Gaara entered the room, each of them carrying small chairs. They plunked them down and sat on them, looking expectantly at the older boys. "If we missed anything stupid would you start over?" Naruko asked hopefully, and was met with two deadpans.

"Kids, get out of here. Go to bed — get outta here." Yagura shooed them out. "And don't worry, the dumbass—" he jerked his thumb at Utakata, "—will do something just as stupid tomorrow."

"It's the _afternoon_ ," Gaara emphasized.

Yagura groaned. "Just... get outta here, alright? Utakata and I are done talking anyway."

"We are?"

" _Yes_ , you imbecile!" Yagura growled before grabbing his collar and dragging the brunette down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the rest of the "adults" were waiting. "Sorry to keep you all waiting — I had to yell at Utakata for letting our earlier client molest me," Yagura muttered angrily as he practically threw his teammate against the kitchen counter.

"Do we _want_ to know?" Yugito said with a concerned, albeit slightly disgusted, expression on her face.

"No, you really don't," Yagura said plainly as he backed up to lean on the pantry door. Han raised an eyebrow at Utakata who shrugged with an amused expression on his face. "Alright, stop looking so damn smug and amused!" Yagura snapped. "You saw what was happening and even saw Mei try to stop it, so _why the hell didn't you do anything about it?"_

"Okay, enough with the drama, you two can sort this out later," Bee interrupted. "Right now, we have some more... pressing issues to talk about."

As of right now, the "adults" were having their monthly meeting while the "kids" were playing in the living room — and that meant shouts, laughter and threats would go on for a very long time before a period of complete, tense silence in which the older jinchuuriki that were talking in the kitchen would feel compelled to abruptly start whispering.

"Before Ritsu died, she managed to gather some information on the Akatsuki," Yugito was saying as she leaned against the kitchen bench, hands crossed over her chest.

Yagura frowned. "Sasori of the Red Sand joined the Akatsuki shortly before she... departed. I'm starting to grow suspicious of one of my present comrades, Ki—"

" _Hey Naru-chan, what's " **Canvas of Neon** "?"_ Fuu's voice shouted from the living room.

" _Hey, that's_ my _stuff!_ _Were you going through my bedroom?"_ Naruko snapped as something was, presumably, slapped out of someone's hand. " _What do you not understand about the word "privacy"? Seriously, is it really too much to ask that you stop rummaging through my stuff and behave like normal people for once?"_

" _Normal is overrated,_ " Fuu and Gaara chimed at the same time. " _We know no boundaries, Naru-chan. You know that,_ " Gaara added as an afterthought.

" _And I wonder who taught you to be like that..._ YAGURA!" Naruko started sarcastically and then screamed the last word.

In the kitchen, Yagura shrugged. "Not my fault, squirt! Lock the door next time!" he called and then turned serious again. "As I was saying, Kisame Hoshigaki seems like the next most likely to defect to the Akatsuki."

"Kisame Hoshigaki," Roshi murmured. "That guy's a powerhouse. He's a Tailed Beast Without A Tail, right?"

"That's what they call him," Yagura nodded affirmatively.

Yugito hissed through gritted teeth. "The Akatsuki are formidable opponents, and even with our skill sets combined, there's no way we can take them down."

"Especially with Kisame on their side," Utakata added. "We don't know for sure yet, but we're keeping our eye on him just in case. As far as we know, we don't have anything on him, except for what you already know."

"We're just lucky no one from the Hidden Cloud seems to have a motive for joining the Akatsuki," Bee commented with a sigh.

Han then spoke up. "Roshi, do you remember the Tsuchikage's granddaughter?"

"Kurotsuchi," Roshi nodded. "What about her?"

"She has this "big brother" she plays with, Deidara I think his name is. He possesses the kekkei genkai of the Explosion Release. He once mentioned in passing he has a desire to reach "even greater heights" with his "art". Onoki's been grinding down on him, telling him to focus on other aspects of his skill set. They've been having really bad arguments lately."

"Hmm, yes," Roshi grunted in agreement. "I have been hearing of their shouting matches more and more lately... definitely more than usual. Everyone knows they're on bad terms right about now, and it seems Onoki just doesn't understand where Deidara's desire to discover more with his explosions is coming from."

"I wouldn't put it past Deidara to put forth an attempt to steal our village's forbidden jutsu. You know, the one that allows a person to knead their chakra into substances? And once he finds the "art" he so desires, he might wind up as a rogue and potentially offer his—"

" _Dammit Fuu, I was working all_ week _on that!"_ Gaara shouted, and there was the sound of him jumping to his feet.

" _It's just a sculpture!"_ Fuu's voice responded. " _Besides, you make dozens of these with your sand! How do you do that anyway?"_

" _But that was_ special!"

"Everything _is special to you_ ," Fuu retorted.

" _No they're not!"_ Gaara exclaimed defensively. " _There are things that I_ like _but aren't_ special, _Fuu_."

" _To answer your question, Fuu-chan, it's a Shukaku thing,_ " Naruko's voice answered lazily. " _It's like how you can fly and how I can play with fire and sense negative emotions. Also, you two_ are _aware that you are bickering like an old married couple, right?"_

" _WE ARE NOT!"_

" _Suuuuuuure_ ," Naruko's voice replied sarcastically with a tinge of amusement.

"—services as a bomber and eventually wind up in the Akatsuki," Han finished, not at all fazed by the interruption.

"So one of the main problems are partially covered," Yagura spoke as he pushed himself off the pantry door he was leaning on, barely hiding his amusement at the sudden screaming match. "Now, about the... _other thing_." The mood visibly dampened and Yagura winced. "Sorry guys, but you knew it had to come up at one point, what with all this new threat and everything."

"No. Don't be," Yugito sighed. "We don't... there's no other way."

"Yugito, you should be very proud of them," Roshi said gently. "Those three children have come a long way from where they once were. They did, after all, grow up with the best of them all." He winked at Yagura, who smirked back at him, even though his fuchsia eyes were tinged with regret at what their discussion implied for their future.

"I _am_ proud of them, Roshi," Yugito reassured with a tight smile. "But I'm also worried..." Her eyes strayed to the hallway connecting the kitchen to the living room. "How far can they go, on nothing but courage?"

No one answered, and the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even the living room was quiet—

" _You son of a—! Give me back my bishop!"_

" _No, I took it fair and square!"_

" _Like hell you did!"_

" _Both of you **sit down and shut up!** You're giving me a migraine and I do **not** appreciate it!"_

" _Hai, Naru-chan_."

Nope, spoke too soon. And where did Fuu and Gaara pick up that language from anyway? Yugito narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Yagura who was raising an eyebrow in the direction of the living room. He was clearly curious about what was going on.

Yugito sighed and pushed herself off the kitchen bench. "Come on," she said, forcing a smile. "Let's go tell them now, so they have some time to process and prepare."

"I still can't believe we're doing this," Utakata muttered.

Roshi put a hand on the younger jinchuuriki's shoulder. "It's for the best, Utakata. We cannot let the Akatsuki get their hands on such young, promising children... shinobi. Jinchuuriki. We have to do what's best for them... for _they_ are the future."

* * *

Earlier that morning, when the "adults" first walked into the kitchen, the three children had a suspicion about what it was. So while the meeting was going on in the kitchen, the three mini-devils decided to have a "meeting" of their own.

"Okaa-san's been acting strangely lately," Naruko mused as she laid down on her stomach on the floor of the living room, playing with a ribbon of fire, as she was wont to do when she was either bored or thinking hard on something. "And so has Roshi-jiji and Bee-nii, and Yagu-nii has been very snappy lately."

"I wonder what's wrong?" Gaara mused.

Fuu sighed and rolled onto his back. "It's been fifteen minutes into their little meeting already. Do you think we can, I don't know, spy on them? Eavesdrop?"

Naruko pursed her lips. "I once asked okaa-san about ninjutsu, but she said she'd teach me when I'm older."

"So naturally, you snuck into her room, read a scroll and practiced behind her back," Gaara said flatly in his monotone.

Naruko beamed at him. "Awww, you know me so well, Gaa-chan!"

Gaara rolled his eyes, but that didn't stop the small smile and faint blush creeping across his porcelain face.

The resident fox jumped up and put her hands in a sign, a grin on her whiskered face. Not long after, three exact copies of Naruko poofed into existence. Fuu sat up in interest as Gaara looked them over, trying to find any flaw. When he found none, he nodded in satisfaction and turned to the creator for an explanation. "I managed to read up about Shadow Clones before okaa-san came back to her room," Naruko explained in a conspiratorial whisper. "And like Gaa-chan said, I've been practicing, so it's perfect now. When they dispel, they give you their memories."

"So you can send them to spy on them in the kitchen while we sit here innocently playing!" Fuu exclaimed with a gleeful look in his eye.

"Exactly," Naruko grinned, and her three Shadow Clones transformed into flies and flew off. At the surprised looks, Naruko added, "I also learned to transform, though that was by accident. I was originally trying to perform the Henge." **(1)**

The other two rolled their eyes in fond exasperation as the blonde nodded, pleased with herself. "Of course you did," Gaara sighed, but he was smiling. "Now, while your clones execute your eavesdropping plan, we should make some noise so they don't get suspicious."

"My stuff," Naruko suddenly piped up. "You know I hate it when you go through my stuff. So today, just this once, I'll let Fuu pick one thing — and _one_ _thing_ _only_ — to bring it to the living room. For the sake of not being suspected of eavesdropping."

Fuu grinned wickedly and then disappeared into Naruko's bedroom. The latter sighed and then stared at Gaara, who stared back. By the time Fuu came back five minutes later, Gaara was fiddling with one of his less impressive mini-sculptures while Naruko herself rummaged around for a shogi board.

"Hey Naru-chan, what's " **Canvas of Neon** "?" Fuu asked, a thick leather-bound book that was labelled " **The Prankbook** " in her hands.

"Hey, that's _my_ stuff! Were you going through my bedroom?" Naruko yelled angrily, slipping into character as she snatched the book out of the other girl's hands. "What do you not understand about the word "privacy"? Seriously, is it really too much to ask that you stop rummaging through my stuff and behave like normal people for once?"

"Normal is overrated," Fuu and Gaara chimed at the same time. "We know no boundaries, Naru-chan. You know that," Gaara inputted his ten cents.

"And I wonder who taught you to be like that... YAGURA!" Naruko started sarcastically and then screamed the last word.

" _Not my fault, squirt! Lock the door next time!"_ Yagura called from the kitchen.

Naruko paused and then sat down on the ground. "They're talking about the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki? As in the supposed-mercenary-group-that-is-really-an-organization-out-for-world-peace-by-committing-genocide Akatsuki?" Gaara sat down opposite Naruko, who nodded, a frown set in her normally bright face. It unnerved Gaara, seeing the young blonde look so solemn. The deep frown and pinched eyebrows didn't suit her, but the expression vaguely reminded him of Yugito, which amused him to no end.

"Committing genocide," Fuu rolled her amber eyes with an amused half-smirk. "Well I guess if they plan on murdering us all just to capture our Bijuu..." she pursed her lips and shrugged. "Yeah, that's genocide."

"For our age we are talking about this topic way too lightly," Naruko muttered under her breath before speaking a little louder. "Okaa-san said that a shinobi named Sasori has joined the Akatsuki — Sasori of the Red Sand. Yagu-nii and Uta-nii suspect a Mist nin, Kisame Hoshigaki, will join the Akatsuki soon. Roshi-jiji calls him "the tailed beast without a tail"," she reported. "And Han-nii is talking about—"

"Dammit Fuu, I was working all _week_ on that!" Gaara shouted, jumping to his feet as he saw Fuu playing with his half-finished miniature sculpture of Shukaku.

"It's just a sculpture!" Fuu responded as she fingered the intricate carvings. "Besides, you make dozens of these with your sand! How do you do that anyway?"

"But that was _special!"_

" _Everything_ is special to you," Fuu retorted.

"No they're not!" Gaara exclaimed defensively. "There are things that I _like_ but aren't _special_ , Fuu."

"To answer your question, Fuu-chan, it's a Shukaku thing," Naruko answered from where she was lazily sprawled on the floor. "It's like how you can fly and how I can play with fire and sense negative emotions. Also, you two are aware that you are bickering like a couple, right?"

"WE ARE NOT!"

"Suuuuuuure," Naruko replied sarcastically with a tinge of amusement as she smirked at them before re-burying her nose in the book she was currently intrigued with.

A few minutes later, as Fuu was flipping through Naruko's Prankbook, said blonde sat up suddenly and the two turned to her expectantly, already knowing that one of her clones had most likely dispelled. "They're going to tell us something today that is making them all depressed," Naruko informed.

Gaara pursed his lips. "I think I know what they're planning. If the Akatsuki find this base, then they essentially find all of us."

"And so they want to separate us... and probably send us back to our own villages," Naruko murmured in realization.

"And by doing that... they'll effectively..." Fuu swallowed past the growing lump in her throat, "break up the Jinchuuriki Alliance." There was silence for a few minutes before the Seven-Tails' jinchuuriki sighed, breaking the silence. "They won't make us leave right away though, right? They'd give us time to prepare and let it sink in."

"True," Naruko nodded.

"Hey Gaara, why don't we play some shogi?" Fuu's eyes were gleaming almost maliciously as she spied the shogi board Naruko had set up earlier.

Naruko let out a low groan. Fuu and Gaara had an unending rivalry over shogi, both of them having lost and won equally against the other. It was maddening sometimes, and often it involved a lot of screaming and sometimes it could even get physical. Naruko had to restrain both of them nearly every time they played shogi, a supposedly quiet and peaceful game of strategy.

Fuu and Gaara quickly stared playing, making it very obvious that it was fairly one-sided.

"You son of a—! Give me back my bishop!" Fuu shouted, lunging across the board when she noticed the sudden stillness.

"No, I took it fair and square!" Gaara shouted back, scrambling backwards as he held the Fuu's bishop "captive" behind his back.

"Like hell you did!"

"Both of you **sit down and shut up!** You're giving me a migraine and I do **not** appreciate it!" Naruko roared from where she had been sketching a seal for one of her newer ideas.

"Hai, Naru-chan," both of them replied instantaneously and went back to playing shogi, albeit a little bit quieter than before.

* * *

As six jinchuuriki entered the room, Naruko looked up from where she was separating Fuu and Gaara from lunging at each other. "Oh good, you're here. This idiot was about to Sand Coffin Fuu and she was about to wrap him in some of her sticky substance, whatever that is," Naruko said plainly with a blank face. However her blankness was replaced with a scowl when Fuu and Gaara started to go at each other again when her attention was diverted. Naruko gripped the back of their heads before bashing them together as hard as she could. The two jinchuuriki let out identical wails of pain as they fell to the floor, clutching their heads and rolling around in agony.

"Owww, Naruko why did you do that?" they cried.

"Because you were being idiots," she scowled down at them. "For Kami's sake, it's just a _game!"_ The blonde glanced at the shogi board. "A very _one-sided_ game, might I add."

Yugito lifted an eyebrow and Naruko sighed under the reprimanding gaze.

"Next time don't make such a ruckus," she muttered under her breath before plopping herself down on the large red sofa that was in the middle of the living room. "What's up, okaa-san?"

Yugito forced a smile as she observed the careless freedom which the three children had. She would be lying if she said she never once wished to be them, young and carefree to do whatever they wanted while the adults worked things out for them, and they just went along with it. Well, not all the time, but you get the point.

"We're here to tell you something very important," Roshi said, causing Fuu and Gaara to sit up and stop whining. It was very rare for their beloved grandfather to sound so serious, so the two child-jinchuuriki scrambled up and sat down on either side of Naruko.

Naruko stared at Yugito for a moment before she got up wordlessly and entered the kitchen. When she returned, she had three glasses that had water, orange juice and watermelon water. Ignoring the strange looks, the blonde set down the water in front of Gaara and the orange juice in front of Fuu before sitting down between her two friends with the cold glass of watermelon water nestled in her tan hands.

Yagura pursed his lips at the odd action but continued anyway. "This is going to be very hard, and we understand completely if you get shocked or angry. This may take a while to process as well, but please try to understand that we are doing this for you. Your safety and future is our top priority; that has and never will change."

Naruko, Fuu and Gaara exchanged looks before returning their attentions turned back to the other jinchuuriki — who were still standing — when Yugito took a deep breath.

The Two-Tails' jinchuuriki exhaled slowly and then looked each of the children in the eye in turn. "Okay, we are going to tell you three something very, very important right now."

"Take a sip, follow my lead," Naruko muttered to her companions, who did as she said in the most casual way possible. As their mouths were filling up, Yugito broke the news to them.

"We're breaking up the Jinchuuriki Alliance."

As if on cue, the three mini-devils spat out their drinks in unison. "No!" they exclaimed as if it was simultaneously the most fascinating and shocking statement of the year.

Yagura blinked and then shoved his way forward. "Hold the mother phone!" He squatted in front of Naruko and peered intensely into her eyes. Naruko lifted her eyebrow but indulged him as she kept up the staring contest. "You knew!" he cried, pointing an accusing finger in the whiskered face as he jumped a good yard back. "You _knew_ we were breaking up the Jinchuuriki Alliance!"

Naruko lifted her other eyebrow and took a dainty sip of her drink. "No sugar honey iced tea, Sherlock," she said sarcastically.

"I wonder what gave you that idea," Gaara scoffed sarcastically.

Fuu snorted. "It's all for us, the Akatsuki are on the move, if they find this base they'll commit genocide and we can't let that happen, yadda yadda ya, we get it."

The "adults" gaped at the green-haired girl who was calmly swishing her orange juice around in her glass. "When—"

"This morning. And possibly all of last week."

"Why—"

"You were acting suspicious and depressed."

"How—"

"Naru-chan."

Yugito's head whipped to her daughter-figure who was finishing the rest of her watermelon water. "Naruko!"

"Way to leave a soldier to die alone, Fuu-chan," was Naruko's chagrined response.

Fuu shrugged unrepentantly. "Sorry Naru-chan."

Naruko sighed. "Yes, so I decided to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu and how to literally transform as a more advanced technique of the Henge, but whatever, you don't really need to know that. No real harm done and we found out about the "news" early, and we're not freaking out. It's all good."

Yugito sighed, deciding to give up.

"When do we leave?" Gaara asked in a monotone, and Naruko narrowed her eyes slightly at the redhead.

This time it was Utakata who sighed. "We leave next week."

Fuu choked on her juice. " _Next week?"_

Roshi nodded somberly. "Gaa-chan, you will return to the Hidden Sand. Bee's leaving with Yugito for the Hidden Cloud. Yagura and Utakata are returning to the Hidden Mist permanently. Han and I will go back to the Hidden Rock. Fuu-chan, you're going back to the Hidden Waterfall. And Naru-chan..."

"I'm going back to the Hidden Leaf," the blonde finished softly.

"But the Hidden Rock _hates_ the Hidden Leaf!" Surprisingly, it was Han who objected.

Naruko smiled gently at her normally amicable older brother. "It's okay, Han-nii. It's where I was born... but you don't have to worry, because that will never be my home."

They all stared at her in surprise, even Fuu and Gaara.

Naruko looked at each of them in turn, her eyes lingering slightly on her mother-figure. "Konoha might be where I was born, but I don't belong there. I belong here, with all of you. My home is with all of you, and even a world-ending apocalypse won't change that."

Everyone smiled back at her. For the next week, they would enjoy each other's company and slowly start to say goodbye. It would be hard, especially when there was no form of contact whatsoever as they had to keep their relations to each other secret, but they could deal with it.

They had to.

* * *

The Jinchuuriki Alliance was gathered outside the base for the last time, taking in every detail that had been their home in the past ten years and more, for some other people. The place held so many precious memories, the most precious of them all being when Naruko first came into the Jinchuuriki Alliance, and all the bright times that had followed afterwards. Some were not so happy, but precious nevertheless.

The group, after saying their personal goodbyes to the home of ten plus years, started to move east to where the Hidden Villages were. After five day's journey, the first to depart from the little family of nine were Roshi and Han who were returning to Iwa, and then Gaara's would follow shortly for his destination, Suna.

"I guess this is it, then," Roshi said as he forced a grin on his face, stuffing his hands into his pockets to hide their shaking, fisted form. "Iwa's just to the left in about two days' journey."

"Take care, both of you," Yugito said as she hugged Roshi and Han in turn.

"Will do," Han said, presumably smiling behind that white cloth that hid his entire face except for his eyes. "Make sure to take care of yourself too. All of you."

Naruko smiled as she ran at her tallest brother before jumping into his waiting arms which were already outstretched to catch her. Naruko wrapped her arms around the boy's covered neck and snuggled closer, basking in the hold of her brother. "I love you," Naruko murmured before stretching up and whispering something in Han's ear. The eyes on the male's face widened before his eyes formed an upside down U **(2)** and he nodded at the girl, who smiled at him.

Naruko did the same to Roshi, who merely ruffled her hair in response and gave her a grin that rivaled her own Uzumaki Grin.

That was all they had time for, and the two red-clad shinobi then departed to the left for the Village Hidden in the Stones.

About seventy-five minutes later, it was time for Gaara's departure.

Naruko forced a smile on her face and turned to her redheaded companion, who was already facing her. She slowly raised her eyes to meet the seafoam-green orbs that she didn't know when she would see again. Extending a hand which Gaara slowly took, the girl surprised the young boy when she suddenly yanked him forward into a hug.

"Goodbye, Naruko," Gaara said softly, getting over his initial shock as he closed his arms around the blonde.

"Don't say goodbye, Gaa-chan," Naruko simply replied as they pulled back. "It implies you'll never see each other again."

Gaara chose not to voice the doubt that was filling the minds of all the jinchuuriki, and merely smiled at the blonde girl he had grown increasingly fond of. "You're right. We'll see each other again soon, I'm sure. And remember," the One-Tails' jinchuuriki smirked impishly, "if you don't try new things, you'll never know what you're missing out on."

Naruko smiled and leaned in to whisper something into Gaara's ear which made his eyes widen. The seafoam-green orbs then softened and he nodded at the girl, smiling back before turning and beginning his trek to the right through the desert to the Village Hidden in the Sand.

As the blonde Uzumaki stared after her redheaded best friend, she felt her heart grow heavy with all the losses she was experiencing. Three family members dead, three others gone back to their villages... and her departure was next.

The atmosphere was somber now that three of them had already left. Naruko didn't try to start up a conversation, and Yagura didn't either. The sadness and tense expectation was so thick and suffocating Naruko felt like she couldn't breathe properly.

When the lush green forests came into view after a three days' journey, Naruko didn't know whether to feel relief, panic, horror or desperation.

She settled on neutrality.

Her face was perfectly blank, her breathing even and body language giving nothing away as the group came closer and closer to the forest, and the tense air grew thicker, if possible. Just at the edge of the forest, the group stopped.

Naruko had to tilt her head back just to see the tops of the trees, and blue sky peeking above as the sun shone high in the sky, signalling it was about noon. Yagura came to stand beside the soon-to-be Leaf shinobi who was staring at the thick foliage.

"First day in Konoha starts when you exit that forest," the Mist shinobi said softly. "You ready?"

Naruko paused. "Firsts can be exciting... but they're also scary, ya know?"

"Well, yeah. I remember a real exciting first time for me," Bee grinned as he came up beside them. "I had met a real nice girl, Marissa. At first I was kinda nervous but then Marissa, she kinda... got friendly and..." Bee stopped when he saw Yagura's look of complete and utter disbelief. "Let's just say first times can be great," Bee said quickly.

" _Not_. A. Helpful. Story," Yagura ground out through his teeth.

"But darn entertaining," Naruko piped up, winking at Bee with a slight, amused grin.

"Bee, I think we need to have a talk about what stories you deem appropriate as examples and what aren't," Yagura ground out as he grabbed the Kumo shinobi's ear and dragged him off somewhere.

Naruko giggled at them before turning her gaze back to the lush forest as memories of her childhood flashed unbidden into her mind, causing her earlier merriment to die away and be replaced with a heavy, sinking sadness.

"Hey," Utakata said quietly, coming up behind her. "You okay?"

Naruko slowly nodded, her eyes not leaving the sky. "I knew about this for a while, you know, but when it all comes down to it, it seems so... unreal," she murmured. "Because even if you know what's coming, you're never really prepared for how it feels. And that place we left behind, the base of the Jinchuuriki Alliance? That was my home for the ten years I've been alive... and I'm never going to see it again. Ever."

Naruko then turned to Utakata, and the brunette man noted with surprise that the blonde had fear shining in her brilliant blue eyes.

"And I don't know if I will ever see any of _you_ again."

Utakata sighed through his nose and smiled gently at his blonde fox, bringing her into his light embrace which she accepted without struggle. "Like you said, Naruko, no matter what we'll always be family, and we'll always belong with each other. We'll find a way to see each other again, that much I can tell you."

Naruko sniffed slightly and gripped her brother's kimono. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinky swear?"

Utakata looked down in the large pools of cerulean blue and tears and smiled, lifting his pinky and intertwining it with Naruko's.

"Pinky swear."

Naruko's lips quirked up and Utakata smiled at her, looping his left arm around the blonde's shoulders and ruffling her hair. "And even if we never see each other again, and this is completely hypothetical," Utakata leaned down to whisper into Naruko's ear, "remember this: as jinchuuriki, it is our duty to protect our designated villages. But we are not weapons, tools to be manipulated. We are humans. We are jinchuuriki, the power of human sacrifice. This is what we are, and what we will be until the day we die."

"But... what if I don't fit in?" Naruko's smile fell, insecurities rising. "I'm... different from them. With you, I don't have to be afraid because are the same. But in that village, I'll be the only one. Roshi and Han have each other, and you have Yagura, and Bee has okaa-san. How do I act around them? How do I—"

Utakata placed his finger on her lips, silencing her with a soft smile. "Naruko, all you have to be is yourself. And if you aren't accepted right away, or even for a while, then remember this: you are the strongest person I have ever met. You are unique. You are special. And that's what makes you strong."

Naruko nodded and laid her head on Utakata's chest as she thought about his words while listening to his heartbeat so she could try to drown out the thought of her moving to the Leaf without any of her family.

"Hey hey hey, are we being left out of some goodbye moment?" a cheeky voice intervened, causing both to scowl at the source. Yagura was standing with his hand on a cocked hip, a cocky grin on his face. "With the way you two are standing and your pinkies intertwined, if I didn't know better I'd say you were lovers!"

Yagura snickered as Yugito snapped, "Oh hell no!"

Naruko's face resembled an overripe tomato as she turned around and buried her face in Utakata's back to hide her embarrassment. The latter was also rather red.

"Leave them alone, Yagu-kun," Fuu scolded lightly as she walked over and pulled Naruko away from Utakata. "If anyone's having this fox, it's me," she added with a mischievous smirk.

"Fuu-chan, you know I don't roll that way! Stop teasing me," Naruko whined in Fuu's hold.

"I know," the green-haired girl grinned. "But if you did, I'd definitely turn gay for you!" she teased and kissed the blonde's whiskered cheek, chuckling when Naruko whined in embarrassment.

 **(A/N: I have nothing against gays or anything, and this is just a little joke used in my family and not meant to offend anyone)**

"I don't think so, Fuu," Bee smirked as he strode over and took Naruko in his own arms. "I call dibs for when she's older."

"Bee!" Naruko smacked his chest playfully, but her cheeks were still flushed.

"Alright you two, knock it off," Yagura smiled as he walked over. "Bee, you've got at least ten years on her, and the Leaf don't like the Cloud. Naru-chan don't swing that way Fuu, so logically, if anyone gets dibbing rights on this baby girl... it's me!" he exclaimed triumphantly with a gleeful expression. Naruko let out a wail of embarrassment and, throwing away all dignity she had left, buried her face in Bee's chest in a miserable attempt to hide herself.

Ten minutes of last-minute teasing, mock-flirting and threats later, Naruko finally faced the person she dreaded saying goodbye to.

"Okaa-san..."

"Naruko, it's "Yugito" now," Yugito said lowly. One could only hear the tears choking her voice if they knew her really well, or they just had excellent hearing.

Naruko swallowed and nodded.

"We have no history."

Another nod.

"And we... never knew each other."

Yet another nod.

Yugito sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruko. But we have to do this for the sake of everyone... for your sake."

"I know."

Yugito sighed again. "Take care of yourself, alright? Eat well and make sure to get enough sleep, alright? And remember, you don't need too many friends, just those that you are completely sure you can trust."

A smile tugged on Naruko's lips. "I can take care of myself, you know."

Yugito swallowed. "And don't you dare forget to—"

She was cut off when Naruko lunged at her, wrapping her arms around the older woman's torso. Yugito blinked, a bit taken aback by the sudden action.

"Naruko...?"

"I'm ten, Yugito. I can take care of myself," Naruko smiled up at the blonde kunoichi. "You don't have to worry so much anymore. You've got your own life now, and I've got a new one about to start. So stop worrying, I'm not a baby anymore."

The woman cleverly hid the flinch at being called her first name from the girl she considered her daughter. Sure Naruko had called her by her first name once or twice, but never like this. She never dreamed she'd have to hear her beloved girl speak to her like this. And while she knew it was for a good cause, it didn't make the pain any less bearable.

Naruko then lifted herself onto her tippy-toes to whisper into Yugito's ear. "No matter what happens... no matter where I go, and wherever you go... you'll always be my mom, the one who raised me and taught me to be who I am today, and the one I'm eternally grateful to."

Yugito's eyes started to well with tears. "And you'll always be my daughter," she whispered as she hugged Naruko tightly.

"Thank you... thank you so much for taking me in, for taking me away from the place where I would've been at the mercy of the people who don't know the difference between a scroll and the kunai sealed within it," Naruko continued as she forced the tears back. "Thank you for letting me know what it's like to have a family to support you... and for letting me know what it feels like to have a mother's love."

"No, thank _you_. For bringing such joy into my life, and for letting me know the joy of raising a child... of raising you," Yugito murmured.

Naruko smiled and her hold tightened as she whispered four sentences into her mother-figure's ear — the last four sentences she would ever speak to Yugito for quite a few years.

All too soon, Naruko was gone from Yugito's grasp and when the woman's eyesight cleared from tears that were blurring her vision, Naruko was running into the forest with a light skip in her step. Just as she was about to fade from view, the blonde turned around and waved, the typical Uzumaki Grin lighting up her face. She lifted up her hand, forefinger sticking up and thumb out to the side, the back of her hand facing them. **(3)**

It was that image that was etched deeply into the minds of the remaining jinchuuriki as they continued onward to the Village Hidden in the Cloud and the Village Hidden in the Mist.

Yugito had a small, sad smile on her face as she continued walking to the Cloud with Bee as her only companion. Naruko's last words were ringing repeatedly in her head, and the woman found them as a source of comfort.

 _I love you, okaa-san. I may not be able to see you, and there may be hundreds of miles between us, but I'll always be looking your way. I'll be watching over you forever. I promise._

* * *

 **(1) Basically the** **Henge** **that Tsunade uses, that is pretty much permanent and uses little to no chakra, and only dispels when she is drained of chakra. So due to being a jinchuuriki and having advanced skills, Naru-chan will be using this instead of the normal** **Henge** **which dispels when one is injured or attacked**

 **(2) Kakashi's eye smile**

 **(3) Fairy Tail's hand sign**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! There is still more to come, and I hope you stay with me all the way!**


	3. Destination: Konoha

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

"Well, here goes nothing," Naruko muttered to herself as she gazed up at the Konoha gates.

"Halt, who goes there?"

' _Fuzzball, what do I do now?'_ Naruko asked her tenant as she was suddenly surrounded by men in masks. ' _Who are they?'_

 **"They're the village's ANBU Black Ops,"** Kurama answered. **"Yugito left a blood clone to fill in for you while you were living with the jinchuuriki. She would've dispelled it the moment the Alliance broke apart, so all you have to do is tell the Hokage the truth and he'll make up a story to cover you."**

' _Sounds easy enough._ '

 **"Now go quietly with them and they'll take you to the Hokage."**

Naruko obeyed, so when one of the masked men stepped forward, she didn't object or try to struggle when her hands were tied and they led her into the village, forming a circle around her so if she tried anything, they would be able to stop her immediately.

Naruko rolled her eyes internally at the pathetic restraints. Sure, they restrained her chakra but she knew moves that could get these ropes off without using chakra. The invisible seals in her wrists could shoot out a kunai at any given moment if she just pulled the trigger, and the ropes would be off in an instant.

But where would be the fun in that?

When the ANBU took Naruko in, the blonde noted with slight surprise that the Hokage was an old man who, Kurama informed her, was Hiruzen Sarutobi, student of both the Shodai and Nidaime and former sensei to the Legendary Sannin.

"Naruko?" Hiruzen looked confused. "What are you doing?"

"Um, Hokage-sama, I need to tell you something," Naruko said as she shifted uncomfortably. Noting her discomfort, the Hokage quickly dismissed the ANBU, and received a grateful smile from the young blonde.

"The, um, Naruko you knew was just a blood clone," Naruko started uneasily. "When I was born, my mother gave me away to someone she trusted with her life, and I have been living with them for the past ten years until now, for classified reasons."

Hiruzen slowly nodded, not really seeming that surprised, much to Naruko's slight confusion. "So that's why you suddenly disappeared a week ago."

Naruko nodded. "Do you think you can maybe make up a story to cover this?" she asked shyly, still not very comfortable in the Hokage's presence.

Hiruzen smiled gently. "Of course, child. Now, I assume you know your heritage and status?" At the nod, he continued. "Well, here your name is Naruko Uzumaki, and you are an Academy student. Pretty much all of the clan heirs and heiresses are in your class," he explained. "You— I mean, your blood clone, has been taking on the personality of a hyperactive idiot... and I take it by your expression you are nothing like that?" he said in amusement when he saw Naruko's face.

The blonde's mouth twisted. "No, sir. I can be playful and... excitable at times, but not hyperactive. I think my family said once or twice that I can sometimes act a bit too mature for my age, and I'm also very good at making plans in a blink of an eye. But when I'm with my best friends, I can be rather childish, like I was when I was younger."

Hiruzen nodded. "I see. Now Naruko, tomorrow you have the day off from Academy because it is a weekend. The day after that, however, you must go to the Academy. You may act as you please, however I suggest that you keep up the hyperactive act until you are twelve, when you graduate and receive a Genin team."

"Well then, Hokage-sama, I would like to act like my blood clone," Naruko said politely, and Hiruzen nodded, pleased.

He noted that this Naruko listened, observed and generally just had the makings of a prodigious child, unlike her blood clone. A perfect mix of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. The Sandaime still had trouble wrapping his mind around this new situation, and was struggling to suppress his curiosity as to who raised the child that was his surrogate granddaughter, however Naruko didn't seem like she would be disclosing that information yet.

Hiruzen then got up from his seat and swung open his portrait that was hanging on the wall, revealing a secret compartment were some orange clothes were lying. "Here." He offered them to Naruko, who took them with a raised eyebrow. "Your blood clone wore these," he explained. "Until you graduate in two years' time, which is when you will drop your act, you might as well dress as you did before."

Naruko smiled. "Arigato, Hokage-sama. Would you mind telling me how I'm supposed to act?"

"Your blood clone was always hyperactive and rather happy-go-lucky, and you often use the verbal tic "dattebayo", something that was passed down to you from your mother's side. You were never one to be respectful towards your elders, or your classmates either for that matter. You never pay attention in class, you always play pranks and you are the deadlast of your class. Also, don't be surprised if you find ANBU tailing you — they're for your protection as some of the villagers do not... appreciate your status."

Naruko's smile grew slightly bigger, seeming unfazed by the last statement. "Well, I _do_ enjoy playing pranks."

Hiruzen sighed, but he was smiling. "Also, on another note, your clone called me "jiji"." Naruko nodded slowly. "Now, your apartment is around here." Hiruzen handed a map to the little girl, the route to her apartment outlined in red and her destination circled.

Naruko smiled slightly. At least she had a place to stay. It would be lonely, yes, but at least she had Kurama with her.

The old man smiled kindly. "I'll be dropping by soon, as I do every week, and if you need anything, just tell me."

Naruko nodded again. "Arigato... _jiji_."

As the blonde whiskered child walked out of the Hokage's office, hugging the orange clothes to her chest and gripping the piece of paper that showed her to her home, Naruko felt her heart grow heavy, with an empty hole in it that seemed to be caused by the separation of her family.

" _Demon..._ "

" _Monster..._ "

Naruko flinched as she walked along the streets of Konoha, and could feel all the glares piercing into her back, burning through and stripping her bare before their hate-filled eyes, leaving her as vulnerable as she was when Yugito first laid eyes on her.

" _Doesn't deserve to live..._ "

" _Let's just kill her..._ "

" _Before she kills any others..._ "

Naruko's steps quickened as she felt a presence trailing her. Oddly, it felt like it wasn't stalking her and waiting for the moment to pounce — no, it was trailing her from the shadows, as if ready to jump to her aid at any given moment. Then she remembered that the Hokage had said that ANBU often followed her to protect her, and the villagers were the reason why.

 **"You alright, Kit?"**

' _I'm not sure, Kura_ ,' Naruko answered as she leaned against her apartment door. _'I knew the villagers would be ignorant and everything, but having to put up with rotten vegetables being thrown at you and glares from every direction... it's all so very new._ '

 **"Well that's expected, Kit. Only very few jinchuuriki experience a good childhood, a good life. It was only because of Yugito and all the other jinchuuriki that the first ten years of your life were so good,"** Kurama said as kindly as he could.

Naruko sighed. ' _I know that, but adjusting is going to be hard_.'

 **"No one said you had to be used to all of this in one day,"** her tenant said comfortingly.

' _I wonder how all the others are doing..._ '

 **"First day of Academy starts the day after tomorrow. Think you'll be able to live through it? You have two more years of this."**

Naruko snorted. ' _I have to, don't I? I don't have another choice. I have never wished more in my life that I had at least one person who came from the same place I did, even if it was annoying Yagu-nii._ '

 **"You say that, but you know you love him,"** Kurama said teasingly.

Naruko sighed as she sat on her bed and stared at the folded orange clothes on her lap. ' _Before? Yeah, he's fun and caring, but most importantly he's my big brother, so of course I love him. But now?'_ Naruko scoffed at her own pathetic loneliness. ' _More than ever, Kurama. More than ever._ '

Taking a deep breath, Naruko decided to stop wallowing in her own self-pity, and pulled out a sealing scroll to unpack what little she had brought with her. As jinchuuriki, there was always the risk of having to move at a moment's notice. Yugito had raised her to be a minimalist, and the few possessions that she did own were either essential or extremely precious to her. And as she pulled out some of her regular clothes, training equipment, books and other things, a leather-bound book fell onto her lap. **(1)**

Naruko blinked at it in surprise; she didn't recall packing this. ' _Kurama, what is this?'  
_

The fox shrugged, **"How would I know? I was asleep for most of the journey. Didn't feel like watching you all get teary-eyed and all emotional saying goodbye. Makes me feel awkward since I can only watch, you know."**

"Typical," Naruko muttered aloud to herself, though a smile quirked her lip. Hesitantly, she lifted the cover, and abruptly dropped it in surprise.

 **"What?"** Kurama asked curiously. **"What is it?"**

' _I-It... it's..._ '

Naruko was speechless as she stared at the book that now lay flat open in front of her. On the very first page showed a photograph of a much-younger Yugito standing next to a beautiful girl of similar age, with bright red hair and violet eyes.

"Mother," Naruko murmured. While she acknowledged that Kushina was her biological mother, the title of "Mom" would always belong to Yugito. Hesitantly, her eyes lingering on both faces, she turned the page.

This one held a photo of a boy with a spiky mess of bright blonde hair, his blue eyes equally as bright. In fact... they were the same shade as Naruko's own eyes. He was holding the redheaded girl in his arms, and radiated a determined air around him. The girl was blushing slightly, but a smile was on her face.

 _Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki; Minato saved Kushina from the Cloud's attempted kidnapping._

Naruko's eyebrows rose; her mother had been kidnapped? And her father had saved her... the blonde couldn't help grinning. The rest of the story wasn't hard to figure out from there.

The next photo depicted her parents standing with another boy and girl — the girl had pale skin and long dark hair, while the male had slightly darker skin and dark hair that hung to his shoulders. The girls were hugging quite enthusiastically, while the boys only had eyes for the girl in front of them. While the girl appeared to radiate gentleness that balanced Kushina's exuberance, the dark-haired male seemed to be trying to appear be sterner than her father, despite the playful spark hidden in his eyes. Minato was smirking at the boy out of the corner of his eyes. Naruko wondered if they still lived in the Leaf.

 _Kushi-chan's best friends: Mikoto Uchiha, Minato Namikaze and Fugaku Uchiha._

One page over, and her parents — now adults — were posing with three pre-teens. Her father had a hand on each of the boy's heads as they glared at each other, while her mother was in the front with her arm around a sweet-looking brown-haired girl with purple stripes on her cheeks. Again, Naruko found herself wondering about the other people in the picture; what was the children's relationship with her parents? Were they still alive? Did they know of her existence?

 _Team 7 under Jonin Sensei Minato Namikaze: Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara._

Naruko chewed the inside of her cheek, burning their faces into her memory in case she would ever have the luck to meet one of them on the streets. Granted they would be grown-up by now, but surely it wouldn't be hard to recognize a boy with gravity-defying grey hair, a boy wearing orange, and a girl with purple stripes on her cheeks?

Shaking her head, Naruko continued. She almost dropped the book, her breath hitching. It was another photo of her parents, but in this particular one, Minato was kneeling in front of Kushina, his arms wrapped around her torso and his head resting against Kushina's swollen belly. Naruko couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the love that shone in both of the adults' eyes; love for their unborn baby. Love... for _her._

 _Kushi-chan's going to have a baby girl!_

But the next photo was of Yugito and herself as a baby. Yagura was laughing in the background, the blonde woman shooting him an annoyed look through the corner of her eyes. Naruko swallowed; the abrupt change happened because her parents had died the night she was born. Shaking away the thought, she read the caption.

 _Naruko's first teething mishap. Yagura wouldn't stop laughing long enough to actually help._

Naruko chuckled; she could only imagine how hectic it must've been for them to suddenly have to raise a baby. She was grateful they did. She gently traced the words that she easily recognized to be written in her mother's smooth, elegant handwriting. Flipping over to the next page, Naruko found a photo of Blue B feeding her as an infant.

 _Naruko's first words: "Bu-nii"._

As Naruko progressed through the album, she noticed that every single one of her family members, past and present, were featured. Whether in the images themselves or in the captions that made her laugh — they were either short and sweet, or housed palpable annoyance towards a certain family member. The book wasn't made just by Yugito, Naruko could tell that much by the different handwriting styles. Little notes and opinions of particular events could even be found scrawled on the sides beside the photo by other family members.

From Ritsu and Mio, all the way to Gaara and Fuu. It progressed through her entire life. Memories rose to the surface with each photo; playing with Yagura and Utakata, riding on Han's broad shoulders as he completed his daily routine. Han had always been her favourite to do so since he was the tallest, until Killer Bee came along. Naruko felt a wave of longing sweep through her as she came across a photo of herself sleeping in Yugito's lap as the woman read a book, her fingers threading through the long blonde hair. She was never aware when the photos were being taken...

The good and the bad times were recorded, something Naruko was grateful for.

One particular photo brought up a memory; it showed her six-year-old self sitting on Yagura's lap and crying. That day, she had been climbing the weeping willow tree in their "backyard", and a branch and cracked and she fell. Yagura had managed to race there and catch her in time, but she had had such a terrible scare she started to cry. Yagura had hugged her for a while, constantly murmuring soothing nonsense words to her until Yugito came to get her. At the time, Naruko hadn't understood why Yugito wasn't there in the first place; she was always there if Naruko hurt herself. Later, she would find out, Yugito had had even more of a scare than Naruko herself had when she was falling. After seeing that Yagura had caught her and she was not in any immediate danger, Yugito had to take a minute to compose herself enough to go out.

Naruko sighed; she had been a regular Tarzan as a child. And even now, she enjoyed sitting in the high branches of a tree. You'd think that experience would scare her off, but no. According to Yugito, she had the stubbornness of her biological mother, Kushina.

And at the very last page was a photo of the entire jinchuuriki family. But what caught the young jinchuuriki's attention was the words carefully written beside the photo. **(2)**

 _As you go through life you'll see_

 _That there is so much that we don't understand._

 _And the only thing we know_

 _Is that things don't always go the way we planned._

The writing transferred from Yugito's handwriting to Yagura's "neat chicken scratch".

 _But you'll see every day_

 _That we'll never turn away_

 _When it seems all your dreams come undone._

Naruko smiled. It seemed her entire family had put together a little song for her. She wondered if Gaara and Fuu received the same present. Once again, Yugito's handwriting wrote;

 _We will stand by your side,_

 _Filled with hope and filled with pride._

 _We are more than we are,_

 _We are one._

But the next handwriting was a source of surprise; it was Mio, characterized by her small words. But if it was Mio's handwriting... when had this been written? Surely the separation hadn't been planned since the very beginning? Naruko was then struck by a thought; what if the song itself was written by Mio originally? After all, Naruko only discovered her hobby after having spent the day with Mio babysitting her.

 _If there's so much I must be,_

 _Can I still just be me the way I am?_

 _Can I trust in my own heart?_

 _Or am I just one part of some big plan?_

Naruko grinned at the familiar handwriting that was often scrawled on sticky notes stuck on the fridge; Roshi's handwriting.

 _Even those who are gone are with us as we go on._

 _Your journey has only begun._

Naruko blinked; what was Ritsu's handwriting doing here?

 _Tears of pain, tears of joy,_

 _One thing nothing can destroy,_

 _Is our pride, deep inside, we are one._

Every stroke was carefully placed in Han's perfectionist handwriting:

 _We are one, you and I,_

 _We are like the earth and sky._

 _One family under the sun._

Utakata's hand took over then:

 _All the wisdom to lead,_

 _All the courage that you need._

 _You will find when you see_

Naruko's eyes widened as she recognized her own handwriting, albeit messier and written with a shaky hand. Had she written these last three words?

 _We are one._

It was all Naruko could do to not cry. She closed the book and hugged it close against her chest, curling up into a little ball on her bed.

And in the far corners of the Five Great Nations, two other children her age unknowingly mirrored her actions as they tightly hugged their own leather-bound books against their chests, and one question resonated in all their minds:

 _Will we ever be a family again?_

* * *

Two years later, twelve-year-old Naruko donned her orange jumpsuit for the last time.

' _Well Kurama, this is it,_ ' she thought as she tugged on her orange jacket.

 **"Yup,"** Kurama grinned within the blonde's mindscape. **"Your last day of Academy and the Genin test. Are you going to pretend-flunk it, or ace it and blow everyone away?"**

' _Hmm, probably ace it,_ ' Naruko hummed thoughtfully as she put her long blonde hair up in twin pigtails on each side of her head.

Kurama grinned within his host's mindscape. The last two years had certainly been interesting, both for him and his host.

Naruko had, under Kurama's tuition, trained herself beyond the Academy's curriculum, and now had a large repertoire of jutsu, varying from E-rank to S-rank. They discovered early on that she had the affinities of both Water and Wind, the fox deducing it to be the result of being the child of Minato and Kushina, in addition to the element of Fire which came from being the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. And merely a year after moving to the Leaf, Naruko was able to perform one of her father's signature technique, the Rasengan with the aid of a Shadow Clone, and was currently working on creating one without it while also thinking of incorporating another element into the apparently-incomplete jutsu.

Kurama had decided to get her started early, in case the need ever arose or if her village turned on her. It had happened before to another jinchuuriki, it might happen to his. He'd rather let his host kill the village than let them kill her, as he had grown rather fond of the Uzumaki child.

' _Ne, Kurama._ '

 **"What is it, Kit?"**

' _When I become a Genin, we'll finally start on Bijuu Mode, right?'_

 **"Yeah, sure. We can start on it then."**

Kurama, being the overly-cautious "big brother" and the blonde's only companion for the past two years, had refused to teach her Bijuu Mode until she made Genin. He was fully aware that this prevented her from the only form of contact to the other jinchuuriki — not that she was aware of that — but he would rather have her be lonely for two years rather than burn her chakra coils to an irreparable state.

"Oh crap, it's 5:45!" Naruko panicked, speaking aloud. "I'm late!"

Kurama sighed as his host rushed out of the door, locking it before she jumped for the rooftops. Naruko always made it a point to be at a training ground at 5:30 to train for at least two hours before heading off and arriving at the Academy at 8:00, which was still quite early seeing as class officially started at 8:30. She filled up that half an hour by reading a book.

Naruko did her warm-up stretches, ran fifty laps at top speed, then walked up a tree to mediate while sitting on a branch. After thirty minutes of meditation, the sky started to grow a lighter hue and the blonde walked down the tree.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!" A large blast of searing hot flames burst out of Naruko's mouth, incinerating the tree trunk that she was practicing on.

 **"Nice job,"** Kurama said, impressed. **"For someone who has the** **Water Style** **, that's quite an impressive feat. Despite the fact that you got** **Fire** **from being my jinchuuriki, your primary element should still have an affect on it, but you're not letting it hinder you a bit."**

' _Thanks fuzzball_ ,' Naruko grinned.

 **"Now, do your** **Wind Style** **jutsu, and then after that practice your** **Water Style** **,"** Kurama commanded.

' _Hai_.'

Naruko proceeded to do so with a simple Wind Style: Great Breakthrough which destroyed the training ground on a meter radius, and then a rather large Water Style: Water Dragon that was followed by a relatively smaller one when Naruko performed the jutsu without a body of water.

 **"Hmm, you will need to work on creating one that is as big as the dragon you can create with a body of water,"** Kurama frowned. **"Now, fifty laps on the lake at top speed! After that, a basic** **Earth Jutsu** **and then take a break by meditating on water."**

Naruko nodded mentally and started on her fifty laps. After thirteen minutes, she was done and her tenant and trainer was fairly pleased with her constant speed. On the first day Naruko was in the Leaf, Kurama had her narrow down her options to see what she would like to specialize in. Not surprisingly, the result was speed. The first thing they worked on was stamina before they began to increase her endurance and speed, and she was well on her way to resembling a flash of yellow just like her father. Kurama was quite proud of this achievement, and wanted to give her another year or so before getting her started on the Hiraishin.

Like father like daughter, he guessed. Wait, wasn't it "like father, like son"? Eh, who cares.

"Earth Style: Terra Shield," Naruko muttered and a medium-sized wall of earth appeared in front of her. The blonde gave an unsatisfied "tsk" and set about dedicating five minutes to creating a bigger wall until Kurama interrupted.

 **"Kit, that's not** **Earth Style: Terra Shield** **anymore,"** he said bluntly. **"You're now doing the B-rank defensive jutsu,** **Earth Style: Mud Wall** **. Congratulations, you leveled up."**

Naruko rolled her eyes at the fox's sarcasm. ' _Gee, thanks Kurama. Now I have to meditate on water, right?'_

 **"Yep."**

Naruko muttered under her breath as she walked onto the lake as if it was dry land. She then sat down and started to meditate. She lost track of time, but at some point she travelled out of wherever her mind went to when she was meditating to her mindscape where Kurama was lying on a grassy plain.

 **"You are supposed to be meditating, not conversing with me,"** Kurama said with a raised eyebrow.

Naruko ignored him. "You can call this a form of meditation. Now, tell me about the Bijuu Mode."

 **"I would, Kit, but you're being watched."**

"So?"

 **"So, you've been mediating for fifteen minutes and you should start practicing your jutsu now,"** Kurama said plainly.

Naruko cursed. "Dammit, I should've gotten here sooner."

Kurama chuckled. **"All in good time, Kit. All in good time."** Truthfully, Kurama was just slightly scared of what his host would do when she discovered that linking fully with Kurama would allow her to enter the Bijuu Psyche Plane where Bijuu and jinchuuriki could talk telepathically. The Nine-Tailed Fox shuddered just thinking about the Uzumaki's reaction.

' _WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE?! DO YOU **KNOW** HOW **LONELY** I'VE BEEN?! IF YOU TOLD ME SOONER, I COULD'VE KEPT IN TOUCH WITH MY FAMILY! DAMMIT KURAMA!'_

Oh, he could just picture it now. The horror.

' _Kurama, snap out of it!'_ Naruko's voice called him out of his horrifying imagination. ' _What am I doing now?'_

 **"Work on adding a** **Lightning** **element to the Rasengan."**

' _Wait what? But I don't even have the Lightning element!'_ Naruko protested. Was Kurama finally losing it? She knew it wasn't a good idea to keep him cooped up for two years. ' _Besides, you said I was being watched! I don't think this is a good idea, Kura..._ '

 **"Just try it!"** Kurama barked. **"I cast a genjutsu over you so it just looks like you're working on the** **Henge** **. You're welcome!"**

Naruko shrugged. ' _Alright, but I can almost definitely guarantee that it won't work._ '

A Shadow Clone poofed into existence and a Rasengan was quickly formed in the small, tan hand. Naruko felt for an unfamiliar chakra nature — it crackled and constantly changed shape, giving it an unpredictable and almost volatile feel — and slowly started filtering it into the jutsu. It was a foreign feeling, seeing as she didn't have that particular affinity, and how she was able to do that was beyond her. Wisely, she chose not to question it as her "trainer" would probably yell at her. She simply chalked it up to Kurama having something to do with it. Suddenly, her eyes widened. The Rasengan was crackling, spreading out into a different shape. It looked like...

"A galaxy," Naruko breathed as she stared at her hand. **(3)** Kurama sat up, interest piqued. "It looks like a galaxy," Naruko repeated, her eyes staring unblinkingly at the new jutsu in her hand.

 **"Judging by the sound it's making, it seems to be a combination of the** **Chidori** **and the** **Rasengan** **. The** **Chidori** **is the original jutsu of your father's student, Kakashi Hatake,"** Kurama explained as he eyed the jutsu from within his host. **"** **Ha, what did I tell ya, Kit?"**

"Chouginga Chidori," she murmured.

 **" _Chouginga—_ oh I see,"** Kurama chuckled. **' _Meaning,_** ** _Super Galactic Chidori,_** **'** he thought, chuckling to himself. **' _Looks like she takes after her father with the strange jutsu naming._ '**

' _Ne, Kurama. If I can get the Lightning to fuse with the Rasengan, does that mean I can do it with _any _element?'_ Naruko asked excitedly.

Kurama hummed. **"I guess so."**

Naruko gave a mental cheer as the jutsu dispersed. "Now I just need to see if I can do it faster until it becomes as natural as walking on water," she muttered to herself and shook her hand once before attempting to redo the jutsu.

Kurama glanced at the sky. **' _7:45... ah, but she's making such good progress_ ,'** he grumbled to himself. **' _15 more minutes._ '**

15 minutes later, Naruko was nursing a burnt hand as she dragged her feet to the Academy. If it wasn't for the fact that today had the Genin Exams, she would've just sent a Shadow Clone to attend for her while she worked on her exciting new jutsu. But unfortunately, today could not be completed with a mere clone. No, she had to do it herself.

"N-Naruko-san," a quiet voice piped up and Naruko spun around as she arrived at her classroom entrance. A girl who was an inch or two higher than Naruko was standing behind the blonde, twiddling her thumbs and blushing as she stood in a way that immediately told Naruko that she was a shy, timid type that was easy to push around.

"Yes..."

 **"Hinata Hyuuga,"** Kurama rolled his eyes. His host really needed to start paying attention the children around her. She needed friends, and so far her only one was him. She insisted her family were also her friends, but as they were so far away with no form of contact for two years, Kurama didn't allow them to count.

"...Hinata-san?" Naruko added, fighting down her slight embarrassment. "What can I do for you?"

"Y-You can j-just c-call me H-Hinata," the dark-haired girl stuttered with a shy smile that reminded Naruko of her deceased elder sister, Mio.

Naruko smiled. "Well if that's the case, then please, just call me Naruko."

Hinata nodded and then asked quietly, "I-If you d-don't mind m-my a-asking... w-What are you d-doing here s-so e-early, N-Naruko?"

"I always get here early," Naruko replied simply as she walked into the classroom with Hinata following her. "What about you?"

"I-I'm j-just here b-because my o-older c-cousin was g-going out to t-train, s-so my f-father had him d-drop me o-off," Hinata stuttered. "I h-hate causing him s-so much t-trouble."

"I'm sure it was no problem for him at all," Naruko frowned. "And uh, if it's not too offensive, why do you stutter so much?"

Hinata let out a quiet "eep". "I-It's j-just that I-I'm r-r-really s-shy..."

"Well, we're going to have to work that, aren't we? If you're going to be a kunoichi, you can't be shy and give off the vibe that says "push me around"," Naruko said confidently. "You need to be as confident as you can! Otherwise people are never going to take you seriously."

Hinata twiddled her thumbs. "B-But N-Naruko, w-what about y-you? Y-You're always s-so loud... i-is there a r-reason f-for that?"

Naruko paused and pursed her lips. "Well, there is one... Hinata, I can trust you, right?"

Hinata nodded rapidly.

 **"Finally, Kit,"** Kurama sighed. **"You need to trust people more."**

' _Hush, Kurama_ ,' Naruko sighed. ' _Can you blame me if I'm wary? I'm a jinchuuriki, and subjected to some not-so-kind treatment from the villagers. I'm only lucky I know the Henge, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do anything!'_

Kurama chuckled. **"If only Yugito could see what they were doing to you..."**

Naruko internally shuddered. ' _They'd never live to see another day._ '

"Well, you see Hinata, I'm not really hyperactive and happy-go-lucky all the time," Naruko confessed before the Hyuuga could ask why she was spacing out. "It's just an act. I'm actually a rather... hmm, how do I say this? Blank sort of person, I guess."

Hinata blinked. "S-So you're n-not hyperactive and h-happy-go-l-lucky? T-This was a-all just a-an act? A m-mask?"

Naruko nodded.

"W-Why?"

The blonde sighed and leaned back into her seat, tipping her head up to stare at the ceiling. "Why? I often ask myself the same question. I guess it's just because I feel like covering up who I truly am until I become a Genin, when I'm acknowledged by my village to have grown to the stage where I can protect them, and by base, myself."

Hinata kept quiet.

"I had a family for the first ten years of my life... and then I lost them. So I kind of swore to myself that I would do anything at all to get them back, to be able to protect them like I wasn't able to in the beginning."

"To be able to protect them?"

Naruko's and Hinata's heads snapped towards the window, where a young boy with duckbutt-shaped hair was standing just outside.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Hinata mumbled and Naruko's ears twitched.

"Sasuke," she murmured, testing the name. It sounded... okay. Not stuck-up or annoying or give off the prestigious aura, but in contrast to the name, the owner was giving off some serious emo vibes.

"Naruko," the boy acknowledged as he ducked into the classroom via window. "Who do you want to protect?" he asked with slight curiosity tinging his voice as he sat down on the other side of Naruko.

 **"My my, this is a first,"** Kurama said mischievously. **"A boy is sitting next to you _voluntarily_."**

' _Shut it, fox_.'

 **"And not just any boy,"** Kurama continued, **"but the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan, and the object of affections from _all_ the girls in your class, with the _only_ exception of you and Hinata."**

' _Really now..._ ' Naruko rolled her eyes at the fox, her tone clearly implying she could care less about who the boy was or what his sob story was. "I want to protect my family," Naruko told the Uchiha. "I lost them when I was ten, but they're still out there. They're just... not together. So that's why I'm making it my goal to bring them back, and to be strong enough to protect them and everyone precious to me."

Sasuke "hn"ed, folding his hands in front of his mouth as he stared at the blackboard.

"What about you?" Naruko asked quietly. "Do you... have a dream? An ambition? A goal to work towards?"

"...yes. I will revive my clan, and kill a certain someone."

"K-Kill?" Hinata squeaked.

Sasuke glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. "Someone like you wouldn't understand," he scoffed.

Naruko frowned slightly. "But I would."

Sasuke shifted his head to stare at the bright blue orbs that held his gaze unflinchingly. The Uchiha nodded after a minute and then said, "My brother."

"Why?"

"He killed my clan just to test his strength, and I will avenge them," Sasuke growled darkly as his interlaced fingers tightened until his knuckles turned white.

Naruko stared at Sasuke, and Hinata noticed that her normally sparkling eyes were blank and void of emotion. Her face was, as well. How long had the blonde's eyes been sparkling with fake happiness? How had she not noticed this before?

A flash of orange, and Sasuke's yelp cut her out of her musings.

Sasuke was staring in disbelief at Naruko, who was staring blankly back at him. He was holding his head, still shocked that his normally hyperactive, obnoxious, loud and idiotic classmate had just hit him on the back of his head.

"What was that for?" he breathed, too stunned to be angry.

"You were being an idiot," she replied simply. "He's your brother. No matter what he did, he's still your blood, your family. Sure he killed your clan, but do you really believe that he did it out of the need to test his strength?"

"Of course!"

"Baka," Naruko sighed. "What was your brother like when you were a child?"

Sasuke paused. "He was... kind. He was a prodigy, and spent most of his time training. When he found me sneaking after him to watch him train, he never got mad at me."

Naruko smiled. "Would a kind man like him kill his family?"

"But he did."

"Don't forget Sasuke, that he lost his family as well," Naruko said quietly. "Yes he killed them, but he could've had a reason. My family is spread across the Five Great Nations because of a threat. They broke us apart to keep us safe. They loved us enough to let us go, to prevent us from being taken."

Sasuke completely moved his head to stare at Naruko. "Loved you enough to... let you go?" he mumbled, a far-away expression stealing across his face.

Naruko nodded. "Sometimes people don't go about it in the best ways, but they could be hiding true intentions beneath outward appearances. What if your brother was only acting as the villain to prevent, oh I don't know, your assassination? What if he was blackmailed?"

Sasuke's lips formed a thin line. "What would he be blackmailed with?"

"You."

Surprise flickered in his onyx eyes. "Me?"

"I never knew your brother, and I don't know you that well either, but let me tell you this: I had quite a few big brothers, and all of them were protective over me." Naruko stared at her hands which curled into loose fists. "They swore so many times that no matter what happened, they would be there to protect me. And look at me now — an orphan child with no one."

' _What if Itachi really did have a hidden motive? But how could_ I _be his blackmail?'_ Sasuke thought as he returned to his brooding position. ' _And... what is up with Naruko? She's never this quiet, never this thoughtful or... smart._ ' His eyes slid over to the blonde who was staring at her hands. ' _She's a completely different person. And I'm finding myself, dare I say it,_ enjoying _her company_.'

"SASUKE-KUN!"

"Oh Kami, the demon spawns are here," Hinata groaned under hear breath.

Naruko's head snapped towards the dark-haired heiress. "Hinata!"

"W-What?" Hinata looked fairly scared at the intense gaze she was being subjected to, and she shrank back instinctively.

"You spoke a full sentence without stuttering!" Naruko cheered. "I knew you could do it!"

Hinata blinked. "I... did? I-I did!" she exclaimed, almost stunned with disbelief.

"Um, congratulations Hinata," Sasuke said as he started to shift, staring at the door warily. "But on another note: Naruko, can you meet me on the roof at lunch?"

Naruko stared. "What for?"

"I need to talk to someone, and you're the only one who understands me... and the only person I can tolerate."

A soft smile tugged on Naruko's lips. "Sure."

And that was all they had time for before the door burst open and thousands of feet poured into the classroom.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

"MARRY ME!"

"NO _HE'LL_ MARRY _ME!"_

"NO, ME!"

"WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY? _I'M_ HIS OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR A WIFE!"

"KEEP DREAMING!"

"YOU KEEP DREAMING, STUPID!"

"THERE'S NO WAY SASUKE WILL CHOOSE EITHER OF YOU!"

"OH YEAH? AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE'LL CHOOSE _YOU?"_

"ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?"

"Be honest," Naruko muttered as she leaned a little closer towards Sasuke. "Which one of them would you marry?"

Sasuke grimaced. "Not one of them."

"Okay then, which _female_ in this village would you marry?"

Sasuke's pale cheeks were stained with a pale, barely-there blush and he immediately looked away. Naruko lifted her eyebrow in amusement but shrugged and turned to Hinata, who was glaring at the deafening fangirls while simultaneously stifling her giggles at the Uzumaki/Uchiha exchange.

Sasuke's eyes slid to the side where Naruko and Hinata were talking, pointedly ignoring the ear-piercing, headache-inducing screeches and shrieks from the demon spawns that humans called fangirls.

' _...you._ '

* * *

 **"My my _my_ my my," **Kurama chuckled as he entered the Bijuu Psyche Plane. **"You will not believe what is happening right now."**

 **"What is it, Kurama?"** Isobu asked with slight amusement lacing his tone, curiosity sparkling slightly in his eyes.

 **"Our little girl is getting quite popular with the boys,"** Kurama chuckled.

There was silence.

 **"Say WHAT now?!"** all the Bijuu yelled at once.

 **"Naruko,"** Kurama said plainly, **"has been getting quite popular with the boys. The Uchiha boy _voluntarily_ sat next to her, and _talked_ to her in _full sentences._ "**

Matatabi opened and closed her mouth, disbelief shining in her mismatched eyes.

The Bijuu were all very fond of their respective jinchuuriki and that, of course, applied to the "family" they had formed. They had always been fairly protective over the younger ones, even if they couldn't actually do anything to help. Particularly Naruko, but that might just be because the Bijuu felt like they had raised the Uzumaki just as much as the older jinchuuriki themselves had.

 **"Wait until Yugito hears this,"** Matatabi said at last.

 **"Oh, you can't tell her,"** Kurama said quickly.

 **"What? Why not?"**

 **"She'll be storming into Konoha and tearing that poor boy to shreds within seconds, that's why,"** Gyuki said dryly.

Matatabi smiled. **"Well, can you blame her? That is her instinctive nature as a mother, after all."**

Gyuki sighed. **"Yes, well... our jinchuuriki don't even know about this plane, so how would you explain to Yugito that you know this?"**

 **"Point taken."**

 **"Anywho, how is Yugito doing?"** Kurama quickly asked, curious after the welfare of his host's mother-figure.

Matatabi sighed. **"Better, I suppose."**

The first year after separation, Yugito had thrown herself into training with an extraordinarily harsh regime she designed herself. Every one of the Bijuu — as well as Bee — knew that this was her way of coping with the separation, though she constantly denied it. Matatabi had been constantly trying to get her to take a break and rest, maybe even meet some friends, but the stubborn woman refused to listen and only allowed Bee to talk to her. Everyone else in the Village Hidden in the Clouds might as well be dead to her.

 **"At least she's not drinking herself sick,"** Son Goku muttered under his breath, though every Bijuu heard him.

 **"But it's been better, hasn't it?"** Kokuo said comfortingly.

Roshi's way of coping was drinking. Han often had to haul him home where he would throw up the next morning. This continued for at least three months, and at last Son Goku was so sick of his host being stupid that he had threatened to quite literally break the man's mind if he didn't pull himself together and start acting like a shinobi, because if he did then maybe he could get sent to one the villages that harboured one of his jinchuuriki family as a mission. That got him back on his feet pretty fast.

 **"No, she isn't. But she's working herself to the bone, and she might as well be trying to train herself to death,"** Matatabi sighed, truly worried about the woman. She wasn't dealing with the separation as well as the other jinchuuriki had. For example, Yagura had also thrown himself into training but he wasn't taking it as far as Yugito was. He even had a few friends and was acting, well... normal. And that was all the Two-Tailed Cat wished for her own host.

Shukaku laughed. **"Well, this is interesting** **—** **all the older jinchuuriki taking the separation pitifully, all worried about Naruko and the other young jinchuuriki when in reality, they are taking it so much better than they. Gaara wasn't exactly the most popular to begin with, but he's trying, and Suna is slowly accepting him."**

Kurama almost laughed as well. **"Yes, my Kit has been training seriously and is aiming to bring the jinchuuriki back together, but at least she's acting like a normal child would. And, she's even beginning to gain some proper friends. Thank Kami for that."**

Chomei grinned. **"Looks like Naruko is taking the separation exactly the way Fuu is. No surprise, really, since those two are a lot alike."**

 **"I wonder how horrible it will be when our jinchuuriki find out they could've contacted each other this whole time,"** Gyuki mused, causing all the Bijuu to shudder in fear. Particularly Matatabi and Kurama.

 **"My sympathies lie with you, Matatabi, Kurama,"** Isobu said sympathetically.

Kurama snorted. **"Sympathies you may give me, but will you grant me the freedom of not having to face an Uzumaki's wrath?"**

 **"Unfortunately, my brother, that is not possible,"** Shukaku said smilingly. **"I, as well, fear my host's wrath, however I give the award for most life-threatening reactions to you two."**

Matatabi shuddered again. **"Shukaku, you have it far better than Kurama and I. My host is a mother, and her reaction after finding out she could've kept contact with her daughter in the two painful years will be devastating."**

Kurama grimaced. **"My host's reaction may not be as devastating, but she sure as hell will be blasting a whole lot of Killing Intent, and believe me, when she starts to threaten people she _will_ go through with them. She's been very lonely and often wonders how her family is faring..."**

 **"Our sympathies lie with you,"** the other Bijuu said simultaneously, heads bowed in sorrow as if the two Bijuu had already passed. All the jinchuurikis' reactions would be terrible, no doubt, but Matatabi and Kurama had it the worst. As they say: like mother, like daughter. Screw blood, they were practically family in every other way.

 **"Oh, Naruko is** **—** ** _oh my_ ,"** Kurama said as a smirk came upon his whiskered face. **"My my _my_ my my... looks like the Uchiha survivor has a little crush on Naruko~"**

 **"What did you just say?"** all the Bijuu growled dangerously in sync.

Kurama's smirk grew bigger. **"Sasuke asked Naruko to meet him at the roof for lunch, and when Naruko asked him which fangirl he would marry if he had to, he replied "None" and when asked which female in the village he would marry, he didn't reply. However I could hear his thoughts and he was thinking ' _you_ ',"** he explained gleefully.

 **"If he dares harm our Naru-chan..."** Matatabi trailed off dangerously.

 **"There will be _hell_ to pay,"** Isobu continued.

 **"And a slow, _painful_ end to the Uchiha clan,"** Son Goku growled.

 **"Forever!"** Shukaku cackled manically.

Kurama stared at his siblings like they were insane, and in a way they did look that way. The only ones who looked sane — at least partially — were Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei and Gyuki. Although they did look fairly furious that a boy was after their "precious, innocent Naru-chan".

 **' _Well this just got a whole lot more interesting_ ,'** Kurama thought gleefully. **' _Oh Kit, whatever have you_ done?'**

* * *

"Naruko Uzumaki!"

"Finally," Naruko muttered under her breath and stood up.

Sasuke smiled slightly as he came back into his seat, a headband on his forehead. He flicked Naruko's small, tan hand as they passed each other, however both continued walking as if the small interaction never happened.

"Naruko," Iruka smiled warmly at the blonde child who smiled back at him. "So, we need you to perform the Kawarimi, Henge and Clone Jutsu."

Naruko nodded and flawlessly replaced herself with Iruka's desk before transforming into the Yondaime, Minato Namikaze.

Iruka's eyes widened. How did she know what Yondaime-sama looked like? The scarred teacher shook his head and smiled at the blonde. "And the Clone Jutsu?"

Naruko pursed her lips slightly and lifted them to place in them in a "+" position. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," she muttered under her breath and ten immaculate copies of her poofed into existence.

Iruka raised an eyebrow but nodded, passing her a Konoha headband. "Congratulations Naruko — you pass! I'm very proud of you."

The whiskered girl smiled at her teacher and left the examination room, tying it to her forehead. She flicked her eyes to Sasuke, who was staring at her forehead protector before he looked back at her and smirk-smiled.

"C-Congratulations Naruko," Hinata whispered shyly from her spot beside the blonde.

"Arigato Hinata," Naruko smiled at her new friend.

"Hn," Sasuke merely hummed in response to Naruko's expectant look, hiding his small smile behind his interlocked fingers. Naruko rolled her eyes at the Uchiha's typical behaviour before turning to the front where Iruka was standing.

"Congratulations — all of you have passed," Iruka said with a big smile. "You may all go out for lunch, and when you come back I will assign you your teams and provide you information on tomorrow's activities. After that, you are free to go home."

The moment he finished speaking, the students immediately began chattering. Sasuke stood up abruptly and, to Naruko's amusement, jumped out the window to lose the horde of fangirls who had instantly come up to him to congratulate him on his graduation.

"Well, I have to go meet Mr Emo Duckbutt at the rooftop — see you later Hinata," Naruko smiled.

"B-Bye Naruko," Hinata said softly as the whiskered blonde patted her shoulder before jumping out the same window the Uchiha had.

 **"Well, at least you have two friends now."**

' _Shut up Fox... say, what was Iruka-sensei talking about with the teams that we are assigned to?'_ Naruko asked curiously.

 **"Every Genin is assigned to a three-man team led by a Jonin sensei."**

' _Are there any patterns in particular?'_

 **"Generally the Yamanaka, Akimichi and Nara heirs or heiresses are in a team, as they have been for generations** **—** **the InoShikaCho. Another team formulation would be the Rookie of the Year, Top Kunoichi and the Deadlast. That's to balance the teams,"** Kurama explained. **"And at the rate you're going, you're most likely going to be placed in a team with the Uchiha, seeing as he's Rookie of the Year and your little act plummeted you to "Deadlast"."**

Naruko sighed internally as she kept walking up the side and climbed over the railing. ' _Oh well — I'll live_.' She cast her cerulean eyes around and found the boy she was looking for leaning on the tree trunk beneath its shade, and started to make her way over. "Yo, Mr Duckbutt. What did you want to talk about?"

Sasuke looked up and a smile quirked the corner of his mouth. "You remembered."

"Well, obviously," Naruko scoffed. "You told me to meet you up here for lunch, and I agreed. I'm never one to break my promises, I'll have you know that. If I say something, I mean it and I will make it happen, even if it takes three years."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Loyal to the fault."

Naruko shrugged. "We all have faults. It's just a matter of whether you acknowledge them or not."

Sasuke hummed thoughtfully. "Who told you that?"

Naruko sighed through her nose and leaned her head back to rest on the trunk as her eyes gazed mindlessly at the sky's view that was obstructed by branches and leaves. "My mother."

Sasuke glanced over at the girl beside him. In many ways, she was like him — she had lost her family, and it was obvious she missed them. She also wanted to bring them back together, while he wanted to revive his clan. Sasuke's mind went back to the question the blonde had asked him that morning and idly wondered if there was a possibility that he could love her that way... or she, him.

* * *

 **(1) Think the photo album Hagrid gave Harry Potter**

 **(2) "We are One" from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride**

 **(3) A made-up jutsu I found on the Naruto Fanon Wikia :)**


	4. Team 7: Bell Test

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

"...Team 7: Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruko Uzumaki, under Jonin Sensei Kakashi Hatake."

"Kill myself~" the Uchiha heir sang under his breath, cursing fate that he had what he perceived to be a weak kunoichi.

Naruko elbowed him sharply, her blue eyes flaring when she caught his implication, and Sasuke immediately mumbled a half-hearted apology, already familiar with the little bright flame called a "temper". Naruko huffed quietly and crossed her arms, looking away from the pouting Uchiha, still a little annoyed at his comment.

Her blue eyes caught a movement, and they flickered to the pink-haired, green-eyed girl who was looking down and sunk further down her chair, almost as if she was trying to hide under the desk. The Yamanaka heiress beside her smiled a little sympathetically at the girl and patted her pink head.

The whiskered girl frowned at the blatant show of timidity and... the protective girl beside her, for lack of better terminology. She mentally made a note to talk to the pinkette and work on her confidence and interactions.

"Team 8: Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka, under Jonin Sensei Kurenai Yūhi."

Naruko patted Hinata's shoulder sympathetically as the girl shrank back into her chair, well aware of the Hyuuga heiress' intimidation by the loud, rowdy Inuzuka heir. Naruko sighed internally, but knew why the Old Man had put them together — they would make a very effective tracking team.

"Team 9 is still in circulation. Team 10: Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka, under Jonin Sensei Asuma Sarutobi."

Ah, the InoShikaCho formation.

"You are all free to talk while you wait here for your senseis," Iruka smiled as he folded away his papers. "Get to know each other while you wait — they'll be here in a while. I'm very proud of all of you." His brown eyes lingered on Naruko, who gave him a small smile.

Then Iruka left the room, and it instantly erupted into chatter.

"Why why why why _why_ ," Naruko groaned as she banged her head on her desk repeatedly. "Why must we have the incredibly late, irresponsible and, out of all things, _perverted_ Jonin sensei?"

Sasuke raised a eyebrow and slipped his hand between the desk and the blonde's forehead, not wanting her to get a giant bruise or lose any more brain cells than she had probably lost already. "Stop banging your head, dobe."

"What did you say?" Naruko narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha.

"Dobe," Sasuke repeated with a slight smirk.

"Teme," Naruko bit back, but amusement was dancing in both their eyes.

Hinata sighed, drawing their attention towards their new friend. "At least you two have each other... I'm stuck with a silent boy and a very intimidating and loud boy."

Naruko rolled her eyes and slung an arm around her. "You'll be fine, Hina."

Hinata sighed again as Sasuke "hn"ed.

"At least you will have a strong team," the Uchiha offered.

Naruko's head snapped to him. "Are you calling me weak, _Uchiha?"_

Sasuke flinched. "No..."

"You better not be talking about Sakura either," Naruko growled threateningly as Sasuke gulped subtly and made a mental note to never anger Naruko ever again.

"N-No, Naruko," Sasuke mumbled.

Naruko huffed. "Good. Now don't let me catch you saying such things again."

"Yes ma'am."

Hinata giggled at the interaction. She could already see the two of them becoming really good friends... or maybe more than that.

The chatter decreased slightly as a man and a woman stood in the doorway, scanning the crowd of graduates. "Team 8," the woman called.

Hinata wriggled closer to Naruko, who smiled and patted her head before shooing her off. The Hyuuga heir reluctantly left them, and the Uchiha lifted his head enough to send a small quirk of his lips her way. The interaction between the three did not go unnoticed by the woman.

"Team 10," the man called, and Ino sighed as she stood up and dragged Shikamaru with her to the doorway as Choji followed her, munching on his bag of BBQ chips.

"Great, now it's just Team 7," Sasuke griped as he dropped his head onto his desk.

Naruko had her cheek propped up on her palm, and she was looking at Sasuke with amused eyes. "Oh, come on Sasuke, it's not _that_ bad," she said absent-mindedly as she drew circles on her desk mindlessly with her finger.

From three rows behind the Uzumaki and Uchiha, Sakura Haruno gulped as she watched them interact. The Uzumaki said something that made the Uchiha's head snap up and they argued for a bit before they started to laugh. Well, the girl did; Sasuke was just smirking. They were already so comfortable with each other, and she didn't want to intrude. They hadn't invited her over, so she was just going to stay here comfortably—

"Team 7?"

"Aw, buzz off, we're having a nice lil' bonding session here _without you_ ," Naruko's annoyed voice cut in through the pinkette's train of thought.

"Maa maa, that's quite rude, Naru-chan," the amused, monotone voice of her Jonin sensei came from the doorway. Naruko deadpanned at the man, lifting her middle finger at him and causing Sasuke to choke on air at the blatant disrespect.

"My first impression of you? Quiet," he pointed to Sakura, "moody," he pointed to Sasuke, "and... I'm not even going to bother," the silver-haired man sighed at Naruko's raised eyebrow.

"Love you too," Naruko said flatly as she hopped out of her seat and walked over to the window, swinging her legs over the sill.

"Meet you at the roof in five," he eye-smiled at his students before disappearing with a poof.

"Stupid, dramatic copycat," Naruko muttered under her breath as she placed a foot on the wall and started walking up, leaving her two teammates to take to the stairs.

"Maa maa, you should've walked up with them," the gravity-defying-haired Jonin eye-smiled.

Naruko huffed and sat down on the steps. "It's slower that way, Kaka-nii."

Over the two years that Naruko had lived in the Leaf, she had become accustomed to the ANBU that were tailing her, and even became friends with a few of them. Her most beloved guard was the ANBU Dog, who had eventually revealed himself to her after she surprised him by recounting Kakashi's history with her father to him. After that, Kakashi started to help her with early training and Naruko had taken to calling him "Kaka-nii", which he didn't object to in the slightest. He was one of the select few who knew about her "mask".

Kakashi eye-smiled at his blonde sister-figure before footsteps grew louder, and the remaining members of Team 7 came to the roof.

Sasuke frowned at Naruko and promptly sat beside her and immediately started to complain that she had left him in his own scowl-grunting way while Sakura sat down quietly on the other side of the whiskered girl.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the interaction between Uzumaki and Uchiha, and he caught the pinkette's eye and rolled his one eye amusedly. She merely gave him a small smile in return.

"Alright, if you two are done bantering, let's start getting to know each other," he said with an eye-smile. Naruko rolled her eyes and Sasuke lowered his head, covering his mouth and nose with his interlocked fingers.

"For example: My name is Kakashi Hatake and I have likes and dislikes. My hobbies are the same as my likes and I haven't yet thought of a dream for the future."

Naruko sighed loudly. "His name is Kakashi Hatake, he likes reading porn, going to the K.I.A Memorial and being late. He dislikes it when someone takes away his pervy books and when people don't work together, or when he loses a comrade. His hobbies are his likes as he said before, and his dream," the blonde's voice softened, "although unrealistic, is to see his Genin team one more time, even if it's to to say goodbye."

Kakashi blinked.

Sasuke blinked.

Sakura blinked.

"You have great memory," Kakashi said at last.

"How do you know that?" Sasuke asked at the same time.

Naruko blinked at her new friend. "He's my brother," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "You still have your brother?"

"I'm not her biological brother," Kakashi immediately inputted. "Just... a brother-figure of sorts."

"You're like my brother and you act like one, don't you?" Naruko asked bluntly. "So you're my brother. There's nothing to it."

Kakashi sighed, giving up on the impassive blonde. "We will talk about these differences later, Naruko."

The blonde raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Just introduce yourself."

"I'm Naruko Uzumaki. I like dango, ramen, my family, Hina-chan and Sasuke—"

Kakashi and Sasuke nearly choked at her innocence.

"—and I dislike bullies and people who can't tell the difference between the scroll and the kunai sealed within it. My hobbies are training and hanging out with my family or with my new friends. Occasionally I like to draw or sing, but you won't be seeing me doing either anytime soon, so you can stop looking at me like that Sasuke. And my dream for the future is to... become Hokage."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her "dream", but said nothing about it. Obviously Naruko's family was supposed to be kept a secret, if Naruko hadn't said anything about them until her "mask" came off the day they had the graduation exam.

"Pinkie."

Sakura flinched. "U-Um... my name is Sakura Haruno. I like reading, gardening and my best friend Ino. I also dislike bullies, and my hobby is gardening and practicing my Medical Ninjutsu. My dream is to become as great of a medic as Tsunade Senju was," she said quietly.

Naruko looked at her female teammate. "You're never going to achieve that dream if you don't start getting more confidence," she said bluntly. "Shoulders straight, chin up, look someone in the eye and speak with certainty."

Sakura flinched again at the blunt, impassive tone but nodded quickly.

"Oh, and stop caving in to everything people say. You can't be a ninja if you don't have _some_ sort of opinion."

"Alright Naruko, that's enough from you. Your turn, Judy Moody."

Sasuke twitched and Naruko rolled her eyes again. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and my dream — no, my _ambition_ — is to revive my clan and kill a certain someone. There is nothing more to it."

For the second time in that hour, Naruko took it upon herself to reintroduce someone in her team with greater detail.

"His name is Sasuke Uchiha, he likes tomatoes and training. He dislikes socializing, sweet things, loud noises and fangirls. His hobby is training and gardening, and his dream for the future is to revive his clan and to track down his brother and ask him what the hell he was thinking when he massacred the Uchiha."

Sasuke glared at Naruko for "ruining his avenger image". The latter shrugged at him. "Thanks for spilling all my secrets, dobe."

"No problem."

' _For all her sarcastic comments, she seems to have trouble actually_ detecting _it_ ,' Sasuke thought with a slight sweatdrop.

Kakashi lifted an amused eyebrow. "And how do you know this, Naru-chan?"

"I got to know him yesterday."

"Ah; when you dropped you mask?"

"Mm-hm."

"Now you're acting like an Uchiha," Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruko's eyes twinkled. "Who knows — maybe I have Uchiha blood in me. _Or_ ," her whiskered face instantly shifted into the classic Uchiha Brooding Face, "I've just been hanging around you for too long." At Sasuke's raised eyebrow, Naruko grinned and elaborated, "You're a bad influence on me."

"Hey!"

Kakashi sighed despite his amusement. He was glad that his team was better than he originally thought it would be, especially with his sensei's daughter on the team. And he noticed that she was acting more... emotional rather than her normal blankness around the Uchiha, which he was grateful for. He also noticed that the Uchiha was opening up to Naruko, which made his job that much easier to keep a possible defect loyal to the village. Kakashi then caught the slightly miserable look on the third, almost-forgotten member. He narrowed his eye slightly and made a mental note to talk to Naruko about making friends with the other excluded girl.

"Alright, nice to know you're all getting along well already. Tomorrow we meet at Training Ground 7 at 5:00 AM sharp. We're having a final test to see if you are worthy of becoming Genin. Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll puke," Kakashi winked at them before he disappeared.

Naruko rolled her eyes and stood up. "Don't bother coming until 8:00. Kaka-nii's at least three hours late to everything unless he's been summoned by the Hokage himself. He's normally two hours late if he is. And eat breakfast, because shinobi can't function without a full stomach."

Sasuke stood up as well. "I was planning on it anyway."

Naruko's lip quirked in a slight smirk. "Nice to know you're good enough to see through him."

Sasuke smirked. "Of course I am."

Naruko then shifted her head to the pinkette. "Sakura, would you like to join us on a walk?"

"U-Us?" Sakura hesitated.

"Me and the teme," Naruko said impassively. "Unless you have plans."

"N-No..."

"Great," Naruko slid her eyes to Sasuke, who didn't look the least bit happy at being dragged into something without earlier warning or his consent. "Let's go."

"Should I even ask where we're going?" Sasuke sighed as he fell in step beside Naruko who was walking towards the village.

"You'll see when we get there," was the vague answer.

* * *

"Tadaima, Kaka-nii," Naruko called softly as she stopped by the doorway to take off her shoes.

"Okaeri, imouto," Kakashi said as he came into view, giving her his eye-smile. "Go wash your hands. Dinner's waiting for you."

A small smile flitted across Naruko's lips as she came into the apartment. Six months ago, this godsend of a human had managed to convince the Hokage to let her stay with him instead of the horrible apartment she had previously been living in. She had already been acquainted with him back then, and she still thanked her lucky stars that she had such a caring older brother here, even though she hadn't even met him until now.

"So, what did you do today after the little team introduction?" Kakashi asked as he set down a steaming bowl of ramen in front of his sister before taking a seat opposite her with his own bowl of ramen.

"Mm," Naruko hummed as she picked up some noodles with her chopsticks. "I invited Sakura for a walk... and more or less forced Sasuke to come."

"Oh? Where to?"

Naruko hummed again as she swallowed her mouthful. "The Hokage Monument."

Kakashi paused in his eating and set down his chopsticks to stare at his little sister who was eating away at her dinner, oblivious to his stare. Naruko never took anyone to her special place unless they were truly special to her. If Naruko wasn't at the apartment, a training ground or Ichiraku's, Kakashi could almost always find her there. His one eye softened as he realized that with or without her knowledge, Naruko had already decided to trust her teammates. Within a day or two of knowing them.

Naruko finally looked up, a noodle hanging from her mouth. "What?"

Kakashi shook his head and chuckled. "Nothing, imouto. Nothing."

The two continued eating, and when they finally finished, Naruko slipped out of her seat to take both hers and her brother's bowl to the sink to clean up.

"You finally ready to look like yourself?" Kakashi asked as he came into the kitchen to ruffle her hair and take out some desserts for them.

Naruko swatted his hand away, her blue eyes never leaving the dishes she was cleaning. "I guess so."

Kakashi helped her dry and put away the dishes before the two sat down on the couch to enjoy some daifuku — Kakashi reading his little orange book and Naruko reading some manga titled "Clannad".

"Alright, that's enough daifuku for you," Kakashi sat at last as he closed his little orange book and stood up.

Naruko looked up at her brother, her hand already outstretched to get another small ball of sweetness. "What's the time?"

"1:13 AM."

Naruko flinched and immediately closed her manga, swiping one last daifuku from the box and hurrying off to brush her teeth and get into bed.

Kakashi rubbed his forehead and sighed. "The things I let this girl get away with... geez, how will we ever get up in time for tomorrow?"

* * *

"S-So Sasuke-kun... what do you think about our final test?" Sakura Haruno said shyly as she faced her long-time crush. She and Sasuke had come to Training Ground 7 three hours later than the arranged time as Naruko had told them to, and for now, it looked like neither Naruko nor Kakashi had arrived yet.

"Hn," was the one-syllable reply.

Sakura sighed. She had never liked the fangirls that had gone and chased Sasuke Uchiha around the village like some obsessed demon-spawns. She, herself, once thought of joining in but then decided not to as 1., it didn't suit her personality and she was not comfortable with some of the stalkerish/disturbing things they did and 2., Sasuke had plenty of crazy fangirls and probably did not desire any more.

Sakura blinked and she suddenly yelped quietly, causing Sasuke's head to lift as he followed her gaze.

 **(1)** " _If every word I said, could make you laugh,_

 _I'd talk forever._ "

His onyx eyes widened as he saw a girl he had never seen before — a girl with long, flowing bright blonde hair wearing a short orange kimono.

" _I asked the sky just what we had._

 _Mm, it shone forever._ "

She was staring up at the bright blue sky through the leafy foliage of the tree she was sitting on. One leg was hanging down and she was hugging the other, and Sasuke could just make out what seemed like whisker marks on each cheek.

" _If the song I sing to you, could fill your heart with joy_

 _I'd sing forever._ "

"Naruko...?" Sasuke murmured under his breath as he realized who the girl was. But she was so different; her hair was longer than he had previously thought it to be, and it was out. She was also wearing a short-sleeved kimono that reached mid-thigh. It looked good on her, though, and it seemed quite practical to both fight and train in. It was also less orange and even had black on it, unlike her old jumpsuit. **(2)**

" _Forever... forever..._

 _I've been so happy loving you._

 _Let the love I have for you,_

 _Live in your heart and beat forever._

 _Mm, forever... forever._

 _I've been so happy loving you..._ "

The training ground was silent for a while after that, until light footsteps crunching on leaves came to their hearing. "I thought you said we wouldn't be hearing you sing any time soon," drawled the amused voice of Kakashi Hatake.

"And you, mister, wouldn't wake up even when I dumped a bucket of cold water on you," Naruko drawled in the exact same tone. "I had to give my poor fellow shinobi some entertainment. You were keeping us waiting for more than your allotted time."

Kakashi reached up a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eheh... gomen, imouto."

Naruko sighed. "It's fine; I was feeling kind of nostalgic today anyway."

Kakashi smiled slightly and then produced two small, silver bells from his pouch. "Okay, now today we are going to have a special test to see if you are all worthy of becoming Genin. It's called the "Bell Test". The aim of this test is to get one of these bells off me by noon, and if you even want the slightest chance of passing, you have to come at me with the intent to kill."

At the glint in Naruko's eyes, Kakashi immediately amended, "Not you, foxy. You might actually maim me if you did."

Sasuke and Sakura whipped their heads to Naruko, who was staring back at their sensei with impassive eyes. "Wait, if Naruko's strong enough to be able to potentially kill a Jonin, shouldn't she be Genin or higher already?" Sakura asked quietly, confusion etched on her face.

Kakashi shook his head. "Not necessarily... it's quite complex and we'll explain it to you after the test. Now," he set down a clock on the wooden pole beside him, "begin!"

All three immediately shot off into the foliage to hide.

' _Something's a little fishy about this,_ ' Naruko frowned as she watched her sensei through a cluster of leaves. ' _They way he worded it, it sounded almost like he wants us to get the bells for our own gain._ '

Then Naruko remembered something her brother had once taught her; " _Those that break the rules are scum, yes, but I believe that those who abandon their friends are_ worse _than scum_."

Naruko's eyes widened as something struck her. ' _This test is designed to trick us so we try to get the bell for our own gain, but the true purpose of it is the see if we can initiate teamwork! Now, to see if Sakura and Sasuke can be convinced to help me out..._ ' The blonde fox closed her eyes to stretch her senses. Once she managed to locate Sasuke, she shot off to catch him before he decided to do something stupid.

"Sasuke!"

The Uchiha flinched and whirled around to find Naruko crouched behind him. "What the hell, Naruko?" he hissed.

"The purpose of this test is _teamwork_ ," Naruko explained quietly. "We don't stand a chance against a Jonin by ourselves, so we have to work _together_ to get a bell!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah right, you can easily take him on. He said so himself!"

Naruko rolled her eyes. "Do you want to pass or not?" she demanded, "Because if you do, then we have to work together as a team!"

Sasuke looked at her contemplatively. "...please tell me this doesn't involve Sakura."

Naruko hit him upside down the head. "Idiot! Of course we have to include her!"

Sasuke grumbled as Naruko closed her eyes and stretched her senses once again. She passed over Kakashi's chakra signature until finally finding the average-sized chakra signature that was on the other side of the training ground.

' _Wow, we were in a perfect triangle formation_ ,' Naruko noted with surprise. Shaking her head to clear out distractions, Naruko grabbed Sasuke's hand and shunshined them to Sakura's hiding place, accidentally letting a little bit of her skill set show.

"Sakura."

The pinkette flinched and turned around. "Naruko? Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?"

"In a nutshell, the test is about teamwork and we have to work together to get a bell otherwise we don't get to pass," Sasuke said bluntly.

Naruko lifted an eyebrow but shrugged at the pinkette's questioning look. "As he said: in a nutshell."

"Okay, so we have to work together. Do we have a plan?" Sakura asked, inching closer so they could talk properly without straining their voices.

Naruko nodded. "I noticed that when we were hiding, we were in a perfect triangle formation. What I propose is..."

* * *

Kakashi hummed as he turned another page. The munchkins sure were taking a long time deciding their move. He would've thought, that with Naruko on their side, they would be on the move by now. Especially that Uchiha.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Looks like he spoke too soon.

Kakashi didn't even put his book away as he prepared to dodge it. But then, something else happened.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

' _They're using Wind and Fire to enhance the jutsu?'_ Kakashi thought as he immediately tucked his book away safely into his pouch and jumped back onto a bough to avoid the blistering heat of the enhanced fireball. Kakashi squinted at the smoke and his eye widened when he realized Naruko was coming at him under the shield of the smoke. By the stance she was preparing herself for, it was going to be a taijutsu battle.

Kakashi's eye widened as he felt a kick on his back forcing him off the tree and to the ground. He turned around mid-air and found Sasuke standing where he was previously perched, smirking down on him. The Jonin once again turned around to find Naruko boosting herself up, her left leg stretched out as her body turned to the right. Kakashi brought his arms up to block the impact as Naruko's leg connected with his arms, sending a jolting pain flashing through his body. 'Sh-t _that girl can kick hard_ ,' Kakashi winced, rubbing his arms. He immediately put his guard back up when he saw Sasuke coming down on him, and smoothly dodged out of the way, resulting in Sasuke punching the ground.

Kakashi slipped to the left and the right, dodging their impressive taijutsu skills and the fluidity in which they worked together. They managed to force him back, which was an impressive feat in itself, and just as Kakashi felt something pressing against his heel, Naruko and Sasuke jumped away, leaving him alone in the training ground.

The Copycat Ninja was confused until there was an explosion above him, and the next thing he knew, he was completely covered in bright orange, yellow, pink, green, blue and other hideous, fluorescent colours. Kakashi stared down at himself in dismay, mentally promising himself to make his sister pay for this tonight.

His senses then pricked, and he looked up to find a barrage of kunai heading his way. He barely managed to dodge most of them, and they hit the trunk behind him. Kakashi started to sweat when he saw how deeply they were embedded, but then he paled drastically when he realized that each and every kunai had an explosive seal tag on it.

 _BOOM!_

Kakashi barely had time to Shunshin himself away from the tree before it exploded.

* * *

Kakashi shunshined to the wooden poles the minute the alarm clock rang, breathing a sigh of relief. He was covered in paint and his hair was slightly singed. He glared with his one eye at the innocent-looking Genin and then sighed. "Well, none of you got the bell... and Sakura, looks like you're going to be tied up because you didn't do anything."

"On the contrary," Naruko smiled, stepping forward, "she did a vital thing."

Grinning, Sakura produced two bells that were dangling from her fingertips. "We pass, Kakashi-sensei. We got the bells _and_ we demonstrated teamwork. That's what the test was about, right? Teamwork."

Kakashi's head snapped towards Naruko who, in response, merely recited quietly, "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Kakashi's eye softened. "It's good to know you remember what I taught you."

"I could never forget that one."

"Because of it's importance and serious life-moral?"

"More like, because of how many times its been drilled into me," Naruko said bluntly. Kakashi's face twisted strangely but then the blonde added in a soft voice, "But mainly because it was one of the first things you ever taught me."

"Ahem," Sasuke coughed, interrupting the little sibling moment. "We're waiting."

"Oh, right," Kakashi blinked. "Well, even if you figured out the test with a little outside help, I guess I can still pass you because you showed compatible teamwork and involved everyone in your team. Congratulations, you are now officially Team 7. Tomorrow at 8:00, we head to the Hokage Office to get our first mission. You can all go home now."

"Oh no they can't," Naruko cut in, stalking forward and grabbing their wrists. "We are going to celebrate as a team at Ichiraku's and then get to know the rest of the teams. And no, you're not going to be escaping this one, Sasuke-teme. See you later, Kaka-nii."

Kakashi smiled fondly as Naruko practically dragged her teammates towards her favourite ramen stand to "celebrate". This would be a fun team indeed — he had never been more glad to be selected to guide for a Genin team, despite his initial reluctance.

And despite the fact that bright, hideous colours of dried paint covered every part of his clothing and his beautiful, gravity-defying hair would need a trim due to it singeing thanks to another trap that his devious imouto had planted after the paint bombs.

* * *

 **(1) The song is "Forever" by the Beach Boys, however the version I used was in Fuller House's pilot episode (Netflix)**

 **(2) The outfit on the cover**


	5. Rookie 9: Bonding

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

"You just _had_ to drag us out here, huh," Sasuke grumbled as he and the rest of Team 7 waited for their respective ramen. Sakura and Naruko had both gone for the classic miso ramen, while the Uchiha had ordered, unsurprisingly, tomato ramen. But what the surprising thing about the order was that Ichiraku's even had tomato ramen on their menu. And Naruko had never tried it.

"Well where else did you want to go — the Akimichi BBQ?" Naruko shrugged. "It was the first place that came into mind. Besides, all the other teams are most likely going to be there and I figured you'd want to eat your lunch first before socializing."

Sasuke grunted and picked up his chopsticks, hungrily eyeing his order as it was placed down in front of him.

"Itadakimasu," Naruko smiled as she picked up her chopsticks as well, Sakura and Sasuke echoing her statement before all dug into their lunch. After the first mouthful, the Haruno and Uchiha dropped their chopsticks and simply stared at the steaming bowls in front of them. Naruko stopped halfway through her lunch and tilted her head to look at them, a fountain of noodles still hanging from her mouth. "Why aren't you guys eating?"

The moment their heads turned to face her, Naruko nearly fell off her stool laughing. And that never happened unless she was wearing her "mask".

Sasuke and Sakura both had stars in their eyes, and Naruko thought she could even make out some drool.

"Thank you for enlightening us to this beautifully delicious ramen stand, Naruko-sama!" Sakura squealed, launching over to hug Naruko and nearly sending them toppling over had Sasuke not grabbed Sakura's shirt to prevent that.

Naruko giggled and gently patted Sakura's shoulder. "It's no problem, really. I'm glad you like it."

"Well someone's acting rather out-of-character," an amused voice said as three people entered the stand as well.

"I-Ino-chan," Sakura stuttered as she immediately pulled back, a blush rising to her cheeks due to the teasing comment the Yamanaka heiress had just uttered.

"Aw, come on Sakura-chan, you've got to admit you don't normally do that sort of thing," Ino grinned, reaching over to pinch her cheeks. "And I would know, since you're practically my sister."

Sakura smiled and turned back to her lunch. "Is your team here for lunch as well, Ino-chan?"

Ino nodded and moved along the line to sit next to Sasuke. "Yep. A kind of celebratory lunch. All the other teams are at Choji's BBQ, and it was so busy so we decided to go somewhere else. We saw you here and thought we'd join. I hope you don't mind the intrusion."

Naruko smiled from where she was talking to Shikamaru, who was seated beside her. "I'm glad you came," she called over to the other blonde, who grinned and waved back.

Choji, Ino and Shikamaru ordered pork, miso and shoyu ramen respectively. Naruko lifted an eyebrow at the Nara's order, but said nothing about it.

To Sasuke's chagrin and Team 10's amusement, Naruko kept dragging him into a conversation, regardless of whether he wanted to participate. And if he refused to say anything but "hn", then Naruko would proceed to answer for him in the most detailed way possible. So Sasuke learned that if he didn't want people to know his secrets, he had to participate in conversation.

"Good duckbutt," Naruko patted his head after Sasuke spoke one full sentence to the endlessly-amused Nara. "You're learning."

Sasuke scowled and swatted her hand away, but that only got him a flick on the forehead.

Naruko stopped eating when she felt the surprised gaze from her emo-teammate. "Why are you staring at me like I'm an alien from outer space?" she asked a little warily.

"Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha, used to poke his forehead all the time," Kurama explained. "I'm guessing that flick reminded him of Itachi."

' _And exactly how do you know this, furball?'_

"Don't forget I was sealed within your mother, who was a Konoha kunoichi. She liked to go out a lot, and was best friends with your little boyfriend's late mother."

' _H-He is_ not _my boyfriend!'_ Naruko spluttered indignantly.

"Uh-huh, whatever you say."

"—just reminded me of him," Sasuke's low, somewhat uncomfortable voice drew Naruko back into reality. Sasuke was shifting a bit on his stool, staring at his ramen bowl.

And, being the intelligent child she is, merely replied, "Oh. Are you going to eat that, or can I finish it?"

Sasuke looked up in surprise. The jinchuuriki's eyes were fixed on his ramen bowl, and he noted that hers was empty already. He shrugged and pushed it towards her, watching with a small smile as she eagerly finished the rest of his lunch. Sakura was raising an eyebrow at her, but then turned to her best friend who was asking her a question.

"What are we doing after lunch?" Choji asked as he finished what looked like, due to the stack of bowls beside him, his sixth bowl.

"I guess we could go around the village pranking everyone, or we could paint stuff on the Hokage Monument," Naruko said nonchalantly.

"No!" all of them cried. Well, Sasuke "hn"ed. Naruko pouted but promptly forgot about her suggestion's quick shot-down as she downed the broth happily.

"So... what _are_ we going to do?"

"I know one thing we definitely are _not_ going to do," a soft voice entered Ichiraku's. "Whatever you have in mind, make sure Naruko doesn't get bored. A bored Naruko leaves devastation in her wake."

"Hina-chan!" Naruko exclaimed happily as she launched herself at the Hyuuga heiress. "What are you doing here?"

Hinata giggled as she hugged her first ever friend back. "We graduated, and knowing you and Sasuke, Team 7 graduated as well. So, I wanted to celebrate with you. Kiba and Shino didn't mind tagging along."

Naruko looked over Hinata's shoulder at Shino, and whispered conspiratorially to Hinata, "He and Duckbutt would get along very well together, don't you think?"

Hinata giggled again. "Shall we seat them next to each other and see what happens?"

Naruko's eyes gleamed maliciously. "Let's." And without further ado, she grabbed a dango stick from literally nowhere and shoved it into the poor, unsuspecting Uchiha's mouth.

Said Uchiha immediately spat out the tri-coloured balls of sweetness and started gagging, his hands coming up to wrap around his throat as he coughed and hacked and gagged so hard he fell off his stool. ' _The sickly sweet taste... it's in my mouth! I can't get rid of it!'_ He started crying internally. ' _Naruko, how could you betray me like this?'_

' _Sorry Sasuke, but this had to be done!'_ Naruko thought determinedly. ot particularly wanting her good friend and teammate to die, she grabbed the cup of water Teuchi was offering her and dumped Sasuke back onto the stool before helping him drink. It took only a minute for Sasuke's senses to come back to him, and when they did he grabbed the cup himself and practically inhaled the liquid.

At the same time, Hinata grabbed a surprised Shino's hand and sat him on the stool next to Sasuke's before she and Naruko, who was done helping Sasuke, yanked the rest of the Genin out of the stall, somehow twisting hands and using their own to muffle cries of surprise and pain.

When they were hidden safely in a hedge that was a little far from Ichiraku's, Hinata and Naruko nodded at each other before letting go of their hostages.

"What the heck do you think you're _doing?"_ Ino whisper-yelled angrily. At least she had enough sense to know to be quiet.

"Shh!" Naruko grinned, the gleeful smile never leaving her face. "We're just watching to see how an interaction between Shino and Sasuke will go."

Ino's mouth fell open. "I always knew you were, Naruko, but Hinata? I never thought I'd say this but: you're crazy, the both of you," she said at last. "They're probably going to go separate ways and come looking for us."

"Aha!" Hinata squealed joyfully, causing her remaining teammate to stare at her in shock. "They're talking! Although I don't know if you can count a "hn-hm" exchange as a conversation."

Naruko shrugged. "Why not? I do it with Duckbutt all the time."

"Let me see," Sakura squeezed between her teammate and the Hyuuga heiress, eagerly peeking out at the two "emos" who were apparently conversing.

Sasuke's onyx eyes were flickering around uncomfortably, as he responded to Shino's "hm"s in likeness. At last, he spoke a sentence. "Do you know where they went?"

Naruko was immediately tackled by both Hinata and Sakura to stop her squealing from giving away their hiding place. Beneath Hinata's palm, muffled words that sounded suspiciously like, "Duckbutt's first words!" were cried out as the rest of their former classmates sweatdropped.

"Yes, I do have an idea of where they are now," Shino's monotone answer came unexpectedly. "Why? Because one of my bugs is on Hinata's sleeve."

Said Hyuuga glanced down at her sleeve in surprise, and saw the spot that she had previously dismissed as a speck of dirt. Internally facepalming at her rookie mistake, she gently blew on the bug and it landed on a nearby leaf.

"Move, pronto!" Sakura ordered the rest of them and they quickly rushed towards the training grounds.

"How long are we going to be doing this?" Choji asked a little nervously.

"Until they find us, I guess," Sakura shrugged. "All I know is that I want to see them interact a little bit more. It's not often you see an Aburame and an Uchiha together."

"That sounds so wrong on so many levels," Ino muttered under her breath. Sakura shot her a look, but the Yamanaka shrugged it off. "Well, we are quite far from Ichiraku's so, unless the two of them are here or something extremely interesting concerning said boys is happening, do not disturb me." With that said, Ino plopped down under a tree's shade and pulled out a particularly thick book.

"Whoa!" Kiba exclaimed in surprise, wide-eyed. "How many pages is that?!"

"980," was the simple reply. "Unfortunately, it's not 1000. That really gives me severe OCD."

"What chapter or part are you up to?" Sakura asked once she saw the title, sitting down next to the platinum-blonde to read over her shoulder.

"Chapter 11, with the ungrateful vegetable and his beautiful, wondrous, amazing wife. But I do have a strong suspicion she has a bun in her oven, if you know what I mean," Ino smirked.

"She's cooking?" Naruko guessed.

Sakura's cheeks turned pink as Ino laughed. "Oh Naruko... dear _dear_ Naruko... you have yet to learn the true ways of this world."

Naruko tilted her head, not understanding, but chose to wave it off as she bent down to read the cover. "Kingdom... of Ash? What a morbid title."

"It is an amazing series by the most wondrous author in all of the galaxy!" Sakura proclaimed. "It is a marvellous story about... I know that look, Naruko. Alright, in short it was about an assassin trying to win back her freedom with a bit of romance thrown in, but now..." she drew in a sharp breath, stars literally lighting her eyes, " _now,_ it's about a group of badass women who don't wait around for men to get sh-t done and save the world!"

Naruko pursed her lips. "Sounds good. Lemme take a look."

"Nothing can be so badass about a bunch of women," Kiba commented snarkily. He instantly regretted that, however, when four pairs of glaring eyes were turned upon him.

"Care to repeat that, _Kiba-kun?"_ Hinata asked sweetly, though malice was woven into her tone.

Kiba started to sweat in fear, and not too long after, Sasuke and Shino looked up at the terrified, high-pitched scream. The two heirs exchanged a mutual look of understanding and immediately started towards the source of the scream, the Uchiha heir knowing all too well what had most likely caused it.

It took a while for them to figure out exactly which area in the vague direction they figured out, and another ten minutes to check each training ground in the vicinity. When they finally reached Training Ground 7, Sasuke kicked himself for not checking this place sooner.

But truthfully, he wished he hadn't found them. The scene in front of him and Shino was just... it was point-blank out of this world. Period.

Poor Kiba was twitching as he lay on his back with bumps on his head, red prints on his face, bruises and scratches all over his body as well as a terribly swollen eye. He was only a little ways away from the group, with two members engaged in a particularly fiery discussion. **(1)**

"You know what—" Sakura's exclamation was cut short.

"I was in the middle of the first book!" Ino exclaimed defensively.

"No no no no _no!"_ Sakura shook her head.

"Yes yes yes yes _yes!"_ Ino countered.

"You are _always_ going to be on Tamlin's side!" Sakura snapped, throwing her hands up in the air.

"That was only based on ACOTAR!"

The noise level suddenly dropped, and everyone except the arguing friends turned to face Shino and Sasuke, who had conveniently been forgotten about.

"Welcome to the world of fangirls," Naruko smiled tiredly. "They first started off arguing over the one Aelin Ashryver-Galanthynius belongs to: Dorian, Chaol or Rowan. Then they moved onto this other girl called Feyre and how Ino once shipped her so much with Tamlin, when she clearly belonged to Rhysand, as Sakura put it."

"I don't want to know," Sasuke sighed as he sat down next to Naruko and peeked at the page. "When did you start reading this?"

"Only when they started arguing. So about one and a half hours ago, give or take a few minutes."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up. "And you're already up to page 798?!"

"Yeah, my family always said—"

"You're always going to be on _Tamlin's_ side!" Sakura spat. She was evidently not a big fan of the shapeshifter Lord, as evidenced by the hatred darkening her green eyes, despite the fact that the person they were arguing over was fictional.

"—not that," Naruko finished before burying her face back into the book.

"That was based on ACOTAR!" Ino cried defensively, despite how futile it was becoming. All the Genin then learned to never argue with Sakura over her precious and beloved ships, because you _will_ lose. Sakura would never give up when defending her OTPs of Rowaelin and Feysand.

"ACOTAR yes I'm on Tamlin's team, ACOMAR I don't even know because I'm halfway through it and you, put that book down, now!" Ino pointed at Naruko, who stared at her blankly. "I don't need another person giving me spoilers!"

"By the way, you are always going to be on Tamlin's team, okay?" Sakura looked done with the entire thing, but she was not going to give up until Ino conceded defeat.

"No, not okay," Ino retorted. It only took Sakura's stare to blow her up again. "That was based on ACOTAR and now I know he's an overprotective bastard, I _know!"_

Sakura was walking away with her palm facing Ino. "Yes, I know, but you didn't take my advice and—"

"Yeah but you were killing me and—"

Their words turned into incomprehensible screaming, fingers flying and glares a-blazing.

"I told you—"

"Yes I _know_ and that's _exactly why—_ "

"I _told_ you—"

"Shut up!"

"Naruko how do you feel about this, watching our usually shy teammate have a screaming match with her best friend?" Sasuke asked lazily.

Naruko glanced up briefly at the screaming demons, and then quirked a lip. "No comment."

It was incomprehensible screaming once more, and it only finally ended with Sakura shouting, "You are going to hate him so much!" at the same time Ino cried, "Shut up!"

Silence once again descended upon the area, and both girls stalked to their respective teams, refusing to look at each other.

"So... that went well," Choji tried, but was immediately on the receiving end of two glares.

Shikamaru sighed and draped his forearm over his eyes. "Troublesome women." He was saved from the attack by Naruko, who had immediately reached over to grab Ino's arm, all the while her eyes never leaving the book she was engrossed in.

Ino's eyebrows rose as she took her arm back. She was not the only one to note the instinctive reflex; Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde who had settled back against the tree trunk. He guessed she was used to diffusing fights between her siblings, so it would've been like second nature to her now. Naruko probably wasn't aware she had moved, given her current absorption in the object in her hands.

Truthfully, Naruko wasn't as absorbed in her book as she appeared to be. Instead, when she felt the instinctive need to block a descending arm, she had thought herself to be back in the JA Base, sitting on her beanbag with a new book with Fuu and Gaara around doing their own thing, and Utakata and Yagura bickering about their latest mission in front of her. The tentative voice she heard was Gaara's, the snarky remark to be Utakata's — though with different wording — and the arm she had stopped was pictured to be Yagura's staff.

"Naruko."

"Not now Fuu-chan, I'm almost finished," Naruko muttered.

Sakura blinked in surprise. "Um, Naruko? My name is Sakura."

Naruko glanced up and blinked. "Oh... sorry Sakura," she said quietly, cursing herself for letting the longing for her childhood home overwhelm her and fool her into thinking she was back in the one place she truly belonged, where her heart yearned to be.

"We're leaving now, it's around 7:30 already," Sakura said quietly from where she was crouching in front of Naruko. Sasuke and Hinata were on either side of her, and the rest of the Genin were a little bit away from Team 7, waiting for them patiently.

Naruko closed the book softly. "Thanks for waiting," she mumbled, accepting the hand Sasuke offered her.

Sakura looked at her worriedly, enveloping the suddenly-somber girl into a gentle hug. For some reason, Naruko was upset, and even if she didn't know the cause of it she was willing to do whatever it took to cheer her up. Even if she only started to get to know her for the last few days, she was already fond of the blonde fox and knew Naruko would do the same for her if she was the despondent one.

"Thanks Sakura," Naruko muttered as she buried her face in the crook of the taller girl's neck. "I needed that." The hug lasted a minute more before Naruko reluctantly pulled away, giving the older girl a small, albeit forced, smile. "I'm okay now. Thanks again."

Sakura frowned a little, but she and Hinata wordlessly took each of the blonde's hands and led her over to the group. The pinkette and Hyuuga exchanged concerned glances over the top of the blonde head, the latter shooting a look at Sasuke.

The Uchiha was also frowning at the sudden change in his teammate's attitude. But unlike his pink-haired teammate, Sasuke had an actual idea of what was causing Naruko to be so forlorn. ' _She's probably thinking about her family... I guess the sisterly banter between Sakura and Ino triggered some memory or something_ ,' Sasuke thought. ' _I know it did for me, with Shisui and Itachi-nii always going at each other, but on a way lower scale and over less trivial things. But if I could so easily be reminded over something that happened when I was seven, what of Naruko, when she lost her family not so long ago?'_

The Genin made small talk amongst themselves until one by one, they peeled off to their homes. Each of them took the time to hug Naruko or say something nice to her, which she accepted with an unsettling amount of listlessness.

Sasuke didn't care that they had passed the Uchiha Compound a few blocks back, he ignored the looks the Genin sent him. He continued walking with Naruko, even as the others all left for their own homes, until they reached the apartment she shared with Kakashi, and then they bid goodbye to each other.

Sasuke stood and watched as she climbed the stairs and opened the door, the warm light that made his chest tighten with longing escaping through before it was closed with a soft click. He turned and walked away back to the Uchiha Compound, hoping Naruko would've cheered up by tomorrow.

* * *

Naruko slid against her bedroom door, closing her eyes and finally allowing her tears to slip down her face.

She missed them.

She missed them so much it hurt.

She had so many wonderful friends, and an awesome older brother who loved her, and she, him. But it could never replace the eight people who had made her childhood the best memory out of her entire life, the eight people who would love and care for her no matter what happened. It hurt so much more when she realized she had fooled herself into thinking she was back where she yearned to be.

With a heavy heart, Naruko pulled open a drawer and opened a tattered notebook. It was a gift from her big brother, Blue B, on the last birthday he was there with her, before he passed away.

Opening it, her pen started to scribble across the lines, her dull blue eyes sparkling a little more with each word. With each word, more memories started to visualize in her mind, causing her to feel both sorrow and comfort. **(2)**

So when her new big brother knocked softly on her door, his voice soft and concerned as he told her dinner was ready, Naruko smiled and tenderly laid the notebook on her bed before opening the door with a genuine smile.

 _My world has changed, and so have I._

 _I've learned to choose, and even learned to say goodbye._

 _The path ahead's so hard to see,_

 _It winds and bends, but where it ends depends on only me._

 _In my heart I don't feel part of so much I've known._

 _Now it seems it's time to start a new life on my own..._

* * *

 **(1) I actually had this argument with my "dear" friend while it was being filmed by our mutual, oh-so-lovely [not] friend**

 **(2) "Where Do I Go From Here?" from Pocahontas II**

 **A/N: Okay, so that was probably the worst chapter I have ever written in my entire fanfiction-writing history. It's short and such bad quality! Yep, sorry 'bout that, I kinda hit a block with the whole "team bonding" thing. Couldn't think of a thing that I haven't already used in my other stories (on Wattpad).**


	6. (B-Rank) Mission: Land of Waves

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

 _"Sasuke. I'm at Point B."_

 _"Sakura. I'm at Point C."_

There was a pause, before static crackled again and Sasuke's concerned voice asked, _"Naruko are you at Point A?"_

Another pause before the missing fox's voice intoned softly, _"Target has moved. I'm going to follow it."_

A black shape with eyes that glowed a menacing yellow leapt through the foliage, hissing as she ran along. It dove right into the bushes, and after a tense minute Sasuke peeked out from behind his tree, Sakura following suit from behind her own tree and Naruko from the bough above the bush the target was hiding in.

"Over there," Sakura murmured.

 _"What's your distance from the target?"_ Kakashi asked through the earpiece.

"5 meters," Sasuke answered. "We're ready, just give the signal," he added when he saw Sakura and Naruko nod at him.

 _"Okay... now!"_

No sooner had Kakashi uttered the words, all three of them launched from their hiding spots and dove at the silhouette. Sasuke grabbed the cat around its middle, and it immediately let out a ear-piercing screech, struggling immensely with its claws flying everywhere.

 _"Did you verify its her with the red bow on her ear?"_

Sakura was kneeling by Sasuke as he wrestled with Tora, Naruko giggling as she reported back to Kakashi through the earpiece, "Affirmative, we got a positive ID."

 _"Right_ — _Lost Pet Tora captured,"_ Kakashi said as he stood by the forest. _"Mission accomplished."_

Naruko signalled to her teammates, and with the same devious smirk, Sasuke and Sakura screamed through the earpiece, "CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THAN THIS?! I HATE CATS!"

Naruko grinned as she heard Kakashi's wince through the earpiece, and took the cat from her Uchiha teammate, who was more than happy to give it up. Naruko started to stroke Tora as they walked back to the Hokage Tower, and surprisingly, the legendary cat settled in her arms and started to purr.

"How typical of Naruko," Sasuke muttered under his breath. Sakura giggled at him, patting his shoulder in sympathy.

With the cat giving them no more trouble, it was easy for them to make their way back to the Hokage Tower. Kakashi had shunshined into the office, raising his eyebrow at the suddenly-docile cat, who was being glared at by Sasuke. Sakura just looked amused by the entire thing.

"Oh my poor little Tora, Mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins, yes," the Fire Daimyo's wife cooed as she rubbed her chubby cheek with the traumatized cat's, who was yowling and scrabbling uselessly for Naruko.

"Stupid cat, that kitty deserves to be squashed," Sasuke muttered as Sakura started to heal him of the numerous scratches Tora had inflicted upon him.

"No wonder he ran away," Sakura mused as she smiled sympathetically at her teammate, him being the only one to suffer the wrath of the — as Shikamaru would say — troublesome kitty.

"Now then, for Team 7's next mission, we have several available tasks. Huh... among them babysitting the Chief Councillor's three-year-old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes and—"

"NO!"

Sarutobi looked up with a raised eyebrow to see Sasuke and Sakura frowning heavily, clearly the ones who had objected. Naruko's face was neutral, though annoyance lined her features as her arms rose to form an "X" in front of her as she asked simply, "Can we get a real mission already?"

"Something challenging and exciting, not this... this child's play," Sakura nodded to Naruko.

"She's got a point," Sasuke admitted.

' _I knew this was coming,_ ' Kakashi thought despairingly. They had put up with it for a while, but he could tell his Genin team was just waiting to blow. They all had massive potential, and being smothered like this was killing them.

"Babysitting's not a real mission, it's just a stupid—"

"Will you put a lid on it," Kakashi drawled in a monotone as he quickly placed his hand over his troublesome imouto's mouth.

Naruko removed the hand with a quick nip to the palm. "What, we were all thinking it."

Sarutobi sighed heavily; he too was expecting this at some point. "Team 7... it seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given. Listen: many different kinds of requests come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded, analyzed and ranked A, B, C or D, depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by ability: Hokage at the top, Jonin, Chuunin and with Genin at the bottom. At the highest level, we select the missions and assign them to ninja who have the appropriate skill and experience. And if the mission is successful, then we receive a fee that supports our village and our work. Since you are untried Genin just starting down the shinobi path, you are given D-ranked assignments of course—"

"So I had tonkotsu ramen yesterday, and I'm thinking miso ramen today," Naruko was telling her teammates who were actually listening to her.

"I'd go with miso too," Sakura agreed.

"No, I would choose tomato ramen," Sasuke shook his head, though a small smile rested on her lips.

"You always go for tomato, can't you try something else? Like I don't know, beef udon?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Beef udon is absolutely nothing in comparison to tomato," the Uchiha retorted adamantly, as if such a thought were atrocious.

"Team 7!" Sarutobi snapped.

"Oh, sorry, were you still talking?" Sakura asked sweetly as Team 7 turned towards their Hokage.

"You know, the Old Man's lecturing us like he's our grandfather," Naruko mumbled to Sasuke who was standing near her, and he felt inclined to agree. "We're ninja now and we should get real ninja missions," Naruko huffed as she crossed her arms childishly, turning her pouting face to the side.

Kakashi sweatdropped at his sister's sudden childishness as he sighed. "I'm going to hear about this later..." the Jonin mumbled.

' _So, Naruko wants to prove herself_ and _her team..._ ' Sarutobi smiled to himself. "So be it."

Team 7's heads snapped up, their oh-so-intelligent response being, "Huh?"

"Since you are so determined, I am going to give you a C-ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Really?" Sakura blinked, still trying to process that Naruko had somehow convinced the Hokage to give them a higher-ranked mission. "Who are we guarding?"

"I'll bring him in now," Sarutobi smiled. "Send in our visitor."

The door slid open and a strong stench of alcohol came in with an old man. "What the...? A bunch of little snot-nosed kids?" he growled drunkenly before taking a swig from his bottle. "And you," the old man continued. "The littlest one with the blank look on her face. Do you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruko blinked. "Is he talking about me?"

Sakura and Sasuke glanced at Naruko and shifted in, affirming that Naruko was the shortest out of them all. The blonde sighed; the fact that she was almost a year younger than the rest of her generation was really starting to annoy her now.

Sasuke glared at the client. Drunk or not, how dare he assume Naruko was an incompetent shinobi just because of her size? If this wasn't the client they were supposed to be protecting, Sasuke didn't think he would have the self-restraint to stop himself from demolishing the old man. Maybe, just maybe, he could slip a little something into his food...

"You can't "demolish" the client, Sasuke," Naruko muttered as she observed the glaring Uchiha, who had a sadistic gleam in his onyx eyes.

"Oh I don't know about that," Sakura murmured in a sickly sweet voice. "Badmouthing you just because of your size while _I'm_ in the room? I don't think so."

From her mindscape, Kurama started to laugh, and none too quietly, either. **"Kit I think you might want to get your teammates and sensei out of here before they strangle your client. Sasuke and Sakura are barely stopping themselves as it is, and I can feel malice in Kakashi already."**

Naruko sighed despairingly. Why the hell did she know these people again? Oh right, one was her father's old student and her big brother, the other was her best friend and teammate, and the other was her "sister". But seriously, who the heck was this... _protective?_

"Could you guys just quit thinking up of ways to kill him?" Naruko half-whined, half-pleaded before she turned to their client. "Hey there mister, just ignore these two. They tend to go a little overboard even though I have no idea why. My name's Naruko Uzumaki. This idiot is Sasuke Uchiha and this sweet cherry blossom here is Sakura Haruno. Oh, and that's my sensei and big brother Kakashi Hatake."

Tazuna eyed them warily, giving a start when Naruko introduced herself to be an Uzumaki.

"What's your name, why do you need escorting, and where to?" Naruko asked, smiling kindly up at the old man.

"My name is Tazuna, and I'm a master bridge-builder, and I need to get back to my country," Tazuna said nervously, still warily eyeing the two kids and one Jonin who were still emitting dark auras. "I'm building a bridge to change our world, and I hope you can get me there safely."

Naruko nodded, smiling. Although, her kind smile dropped when she turned towards Sasuke and Sakura. With a perfectly blank expression, she took hold of their ears and dragged them out the door. "Cut it out you two," she hissed, the boy and girl whining in pain as they were dragged out. She continued muttering in annoyance under her breath, only a few words being caught by the other occupants of the room.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the Genin, internally thanking his lucky stars she wasn't scolding him. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

"Meet at the village gates in an hour. And **do not be late, Kakashi**!" she called back sharply, letting a little bit of Kurama's chakra seep into her voice and noting with satisfaction that the Copy Nin was nodding his head with a small salute.

* * *

As Team 7 walked along, they kept a careful eye on the bridge builder, who seemed to be very nervous. Naruko could sense two malice-filled presences growing nearer, and her brow furrowed when she stepped over a puddle. At that moment, the malice grew to suffocating levels but as she moved further along, the level lessened.

Her training kicking in, Naruko quickly dropped a seal filled with Lightning chakra on the puddle, discreetly forming a ram seal to activate it.

Not too long after, pain-filled screams echoed around the area, and Team 7 whirled around to the puddle. Two rogue ninja, whom Naruko and Kakashi immediately identified as the Demon Brothers, emerged with their weapons drawn.

"Sakura, go guard Tazuna. Naruko, with me!" Sasuke ordered before Kakashi could even say a word. Sakura rolled her eyes before taking a defensive stance before the bridge builder. She knew why she had to stay behind; she was a medic, and medics were always the most vital part of a team. Add to the fact that her senbon really wouldn't be that effective against those chains.

Naruko grabbed a shuriken from her pouch, throwing it with deadly accuracy so the chain that was shared between the Demon Brothers was pinned against a nearby tree. Sasuke immediately threw a kunai through the hole in the shuriken, securing it and the uselessness of the chains. He then proceeded to jump onto their shoulders while they were immobilized, grabbing the arm gauntlets of the Demon Brothers and kicking out.

Unfortunately instead of knocking them out, it only released them from their chains and they immediately headed straight for Sakura and Tazuna. The pinkette narrowed her eyes and readied a handful of senbon between her fingers, knowing it wouldn't do much but if she could get past their armour she may be able to hit a nerve.

Naruko reacted quicker. Not wanting to be too flashy, but also wanting to be quick, she focused her chakra into her lower back and golden chakra chains flew out, binding the two rogue ninja together. With a quick jab on a pressure point in their necks, the rogues fell unconscious. She stood above them for a moment, waiting for any unexpected movements. When none came, she simply turned and headed back to her team.

The Jonin appraised them all before giving his infamous eye-smile. "Good job you three. I expected nothing less from you. And Naruko, I didn't know you already unlocked your Uzumaki bloodline."

The blonde shrugged with a smile.

"Well, Tazuna. Looks like—"

"You're an Uzumaki," Tazuna interrupted, staring at Naruko.

The blonde raised a delicate eyebrow. "I did introduce myself as an Uzumaki before, you know."

"Yes but... I thought all the Uzumaki died out."

Sakura was confused, so Naruko elaborated for her. "The Uzumaki was a powerful clan located near the Land of Waves. Uzushio, or the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools, was essentially a village of one clan. They were renowned for their adeptness and skill in fūinjutsu, to the point where it led to their destruction. I'm the last one of my kind."

"Like Sasuke," Sakura whispered, understanding.

Sasuke frowned slightly at Naruko. Clearly, when Naruko had told Sasuke of her missing family, it was not the Uzumaki clan. No, it was something more... something about the vague way she spoke of her family seemed like they were hidden. And if Naruko truly was the last of her kind...

Kakashi cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. "As I was saying, Tazuna, you have a lot of explaining to do. We were attacked by Chuunin, who specialize in relentless attack and will not stop, no matter what the sacrifice. I could have taken them out quickly, but I had to learn what their objective was, and who they were after... luckily Sasuke and Naruko allowed them enough time to reveal that."

"H-Huh? What are you getting at?" he started sweating in fear.

"I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or after you, the master bridge builder." His tone suggested he thought of Tazuna to be anything but. "When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection against robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this, it would be a B-ranked mission or higher."

Tazuna looked down at the ground, clearly guilty.

"Our task was simply to get you to your destination, and protect you until you finished building your bridge. If we knew we were fielding attacks from enemy ninja, we would've staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-ranked mission. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is unacceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"No, we're really not," his imouto's voice cut in.

Kakashi turned with a raised eyebrow to where Naruko was standing between Sasuke and Sakura. "And what do you mean by that, Naruko?"

"Naruko and I took out the Demon Brothers with relative easiness," Sasuke jerked his head at the blonde. "And we fell into formation almost immediately. We all knew our roles, and we're advanced enough to be able to defeat two Chuunin, despite our rank of Genin."

"So, I say let's keep going," Sakura smiled determinedly. "Besides, I have enough training to be able to heal most wounds, so we don't have to go back for a doctor or anything. One of the reasons Sasuke made me stay back," she playfully jabbed the Uchiha's ribs, who in turn, gave a small quirk of his lips.

' _They_ are _working together quite well_ ,' Kakashi mused to himself. ' _Perhaps it would be beneficial to them to continue, and see how much they can handle together. It seems they are more advanced than most Genin would be, and none of them are shying away from a mission that is turning out to be higher ranked than we thought_.'

"Very well," he voiced. "If all of you are in favour of continuing, then we shall."

Team 7 did a group high-five, smiles or smirks decorating their faces. Without acknowledging their sensei and client, the three children walked right past them and towards their destination.

"Hey, let's play a game," Sakura piped up.

"What game?" Naruko elbowed Sasuke's gut lightly. Sasuke resisted the urge to facepalm, only because Naruko perked up at the suggestion, clearly interested. And seriously, what was up with his teammates and elbowing his gut?

"Naruko: Iruka-sensei, Choji or Shikamaru. Kiss Marry Kill?"

Kakashi groaned as Tazuna sweatdropped. Did kids these days really play these type of games?

Naruko hummed. "So hard. I think I'll Kiss Iruka-sensei, Marry Choji and Kill Shikamaru. Because Shikamaru would think it's too troublesome to marry."

Sakura snickered. "True that."

"Why'd you marry Choji?" Sasuke asked absent-mindedly, eyes flickering back from Naruko to their surroundings, back and forth.

"Well, Choji's sweet, and I could never kill Iruka-sensei after all he's done for me in the past two years," Naruko shrugged. "Okay Sasuke: Ino, Tenten, or Tazuna. Kiss Marry Kill?"

Sasuke sighed. "Really Naruko? Ugh, I guess I'd Kiss Ino, Marry Tenten and Kill Tazuna. You can guess the reasons."

Sakura smirked. "Let me guess, you'd rather kiss a fangirl than marry her, and you hate Tazuna."

"Drunken old man," Sasuke muttered angrily as his teammates giggled. "Sakura: Shikamaru, Kiba or Hinata. Kiss Marry Kill?"

"Hmm, Kiss Hinata, Marry Shikamaru and Kill Kiba. Because I like Hinata but I don't swing that way and Kiba is an annoying pain the neck," Sakura sighed but her eyes lit up in a way that made her teammates wary. "Naruko again: Hashirama Senju, Sasuke or Kakashi. Kiss Marry Kill."

Naruko hummed thoughtfully, not noticing the way Sasuke's cheeks were dusted pink. "I'd Kiss Kakashi, Marry Sasuke and Kill Hashirama. You know, because Hashirama's decades older than me and he's also dead, so there's no way I'd kiss or marry a corpse. Or maybe he's a skeleton by now... ew that's gross to even think about. Unhygienic. And not to mention disrespectful."

Sakura shook her head fondly, internally musing on how Naruko could so easily get sidetracked and forget she just said she'd marry her teammate.

"Sasuke: Mito Uzumaki, Sakura or Kakashi."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose. "Kiss Mito, Marry Sakura and Kill Kakashi. Because Sakura's the only choice my age and female, and... there's no way I'm kissing _Kakashi_." The very thought of it made the poor Uchiha heir want to gag. Sakura and Naruko snickered quietly at the disgusted look on his face, but the pinkette stopped when Sasuke spoke. "Alright Sakura: Tobirama Senju, Naruko or Kakashi. Kiss Marry Kill?"

"Kiss Naruko, Marry Tobirama and Kill Kakashi," Sakura smiled sweetly. "Because I like Naruko and would never kill her, and because Tobirama is dead so that means I can still do whatever I want as a free woman. Since, you know, I don't really have to do anything for him and probably won't have any legal obligation to. I mean, he's _dead_."

' _I am_ so _over this already,_ ' Kakashi moaned to himself. Why did he ever volunteer to take on this team of Genin again?

"Why would you guys all kill Kakashi?" Naruko wondered aloud, sounding genuinely curious.

"Because he's the only choice left," Sakura answered at the same time Sasuke cried vehemently, "I am _not_ kissing that _cyclops!"_

Kakashi sighed quietly, hoping they would arrive at Wave quickly before he lost his patience and slapped silencing seals on them.

Although, knowing Naruko, she would find a way to undo them.

* * *

"Tazuna, before we reach the pier I want to ask you something," Kakashi said lowly as they travelled by boat through the dense fog. "The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid we'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

"Hmm," Tazuna murmured. "I have no choice but to tell you... no, I _want_ you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the scope of your original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi repeated. "Who is it?"

"You know him. At least, I'm sure you've heard his name before. "He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnet, Gatō."

"Huh?" Kakashi's eye widened. "Gatō? Of Gatō Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him!"

"Gatō is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true, but below the surface with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband, using gangs and ninja," Tazuna revealed with a level of sorrow in his voice. "It was one year ago, when Gatō first set his sights on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply... disappeared. In an island nation, a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government... our very lives. But there's one thing he fears: the bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the mainland and that will break his control. I am the bridge builder."

"So that's it," Sakura said thoughtfully. "Since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way."

"That means," Sasuke mused, "the guys we fought in the forest. They were working for Gatō."

"I don't understand," Kakashi said. "If you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves is a small and impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home."

"So all we have to do is make sure you don't get killed and drop you off at your house," Naruko said before Tazuna could begin to guilt-trip them into staying.

"Drop him off or stay with him until the bridge is done," Sakura agreed.

"To stay or not to stay, that is the question," Sasuke said sagely. At the looks he received from his teammates, he shrugged. "What? It's quite fitting."

"Never thought the lone Uchiha would ever make a joke," Naruko shook her head with a smile. Instead of being offended by the statement of "lone Uchiha", Sasuke merely gave her a slight smile.

Kakashi eyed his students, smiling beneath his mask. Naruko was proving to be a good influence on Sasuke and Sakura, as both were coming out of their shells and interacting more. Sasuke grew less focused on revenge in the past week, and Sakura was more confident than she was in the beginning, and was bonding well with Naruko. Neither of the girls hesitated to talk and joke with the Uchiha, who was slowly starting to reciprocate in likeness.

Just then, they exited the fog and arrived on the pier. Tazuna turned to his escorts, and said, "Okay, take me to my home. And I mean, get me there in one piece."

"Right," Kakashi acknowledged. ' _The next ninja they send won't be Chuunin. They'll be Jonin, elite ninja with deadly skills. Hmm..._ '

Naruko suddenly threw a kunai into a nearby bush, startling her teammates.

"Naruko, what is it?" Sakura asked tentatively.

The blonde merely narrowed her eyes slightly as she pushed through the bush, and found a rabbit shivering underneath the kunai. "Snow rabbit. But they only have white fur during the winter, when the days are short and there's little sunlight... so this rabbit was raised indoors, away from the light, which could only be for one purpose."

"A replacement technique," Sasuke realized.

"Mm-hm," Naruko nodded. She shifted towards her left, angling her head to look up at the tree near her, blue eyes narrowed further in warning.

' _I see you_.'

Up in the tree, covered by the leaves, their would-be assailant's eyes widened as he instinctively reached behind him to grab his sword. ' _No wonder the Demon Brothers failed in their mission. It's the Copy Ninja from Konoha, Kakashi of the Sharingan. But that girl..._ '

"Look out!" Kakashi and Naruko cried, the latter tackling Sakura to the ground. Kakashi threw Tazuna to the ground with him, Sasuke immediately dropping.

A sword hurtled overhead, barely missing them. It stuck deep into a tree, and in a blink of an eye a half-naked man wearing cow-print clothing appeared on the handle. He had a Mist forehead protector on sideways, and white bandages covered his mouth.

Naruko's eyes widened a little at the Mist symbol, then her eyes moved to the sword. ' _That must be_ —'

"Well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi drawled as he took a few steps closer to the tree. "Rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"Rogue ninja..." Sakura breathed, eyes wide.

"Shall we go for it?" Sasuke asked his teammates quietly, body tense as a coiled spring and ready to launch into action at any given moment. "Naruko, Sakura—"

"He's not like those other ninja back there," Naruko murmured, stopping him. "He's in a whole other league. Oh, and I do love the fact that you ask _us_ instead of our sensei."

"Since when does _he_ ever let us do anything fun?" Sasuke muttered unhappily.

Naruko ignored them. ' _If he's our opponent, Kaka-nii might need_ that.'

"Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza growled out, false fascination in his voice. "Did I get that right? It's too bad, huh? But you'll have to hand over the old man."

With a hand on his slanted forehead protector, Kakashi ordered his team, "Manji Formation. Protect the bridge builder."

"Already way ahead of you," Naruko muttered as the team slid into position, kunai at the ready. Sakura and Sasuke cast her a look that said, ' _And how would you have known that?'_ Naruko rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "What? He taught us teamwork, so naturally, it's time to use it."

Kakashi finally lifted his forehead protector, revealing a vertical scar that ran down his left eye. He opened his eyelid, revealing a red eye with three black tomoe; the Sharingan.

"I'm ready."

"Well," Zabuza drawled, "looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action. This is an honour."

Thick mist suddenly crept in, fogging up their eyesight as Zabuza's voice rang out menacingly. "As for you, Jonin, in the assassination unit of the Hidden Mist, we have a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your profile is in our Bingo Book. It called you the Man Who Copied Over A Thousand Ninjutsu: Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."

' _Wow, Kakashi-sensei's so famous,_ ' Sakura thought in awe. She never knew her sensei was that known throughout the shinobi world.

' _Wait a minute,_ ' Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the Jonin, ' _the Sharingan is a dojutsu that only resides in members of the Uchiha clan._ My _clan. Could he be...?'_

"Enough talking," Zabuza crouched down on the sword handle, finally facing his opponents fully. "I need to exterminate the old man. Now." His eye silently assessed all the shinobi in front of him, and a smirk curled his lip. "So, I'll have to eliminate you first, eh Kakashi? So be it."

In a flash the sword and its owner disappeared from the tree and landed on the nearby lake.

"He's over there, standing on the water!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

' _He's building up a huge amount of chakra,_ ' Kakashi observed.

' _Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!'_ Zabuza held his stare with Kakashi's mismatched eyes, even as the mist thickened even more and concealed each other from view.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi told his team.

' _Zabuza Momochi, leader of the Mist's assassination unit. Or, ex-leader, now,_ ' Naruko thought. ' _He's a master of the Silent Killing Technique_.'

Kakashi voiced Naruko's inner thoughts, adding, "As the name suggests, it happens in an instant without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass from this life without realizing what has happened. The Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard."

' _You don't have to tell me twice,_ ' Naruko thought as she scanned her surroundings, despite the action being futile due to the thick mist. ' _Yagu-nii, this is when your training really starts being useful. Why couldn't you have taught me more... if I die because of this, my death will be on your head!'_

 **"Oh stop being so dramatic, Kit,"** Kurama rolled his eyes, **"as if I would let you die. And besides, Yagura taught you plenty."**

' _Yeah, except how to fend against the leader of the frickin' assassination unit!'_ Naruko snapped back. ' _And excuse me for being touchy, but Zabuza Momochi is out for our blood._ '

"Well, if we fail, we only lose our lives," Kakashi mused nonchalantly.

"How can you say that?" Sakura cried indignantly. Naruko patted her shoulder, and the pinkette shot her a worried look but settled down.

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean. The swirling mists are ever-present," Tazuna said as he noticed the mist was getting thicker and thicker. Soon, Kakashi disappeared from their sight, leaving Team 7 and Tazuna vulnerable.

"Eight points," the familiar guttural growl of a certain rogue reached their ears.

' _Oh, I am_ _going to_ murder _Yagura and Utakata if they don't show up!'_ Naruko gritted her teeth.

 **"Oh don't have a cow,"** Kurama rolled his eyes. **"I'm sure their "brotherly intuition" will kick in sooner or later."**

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my kill point?"

' _Well it better be sooner, unless they want an_ un- _happy family reunion!'_

 **"Kit, you are way too dramatic for your own good."**

' _Says the lazy, oversized pussycat who is known to be a demon and the stuff of nightmares in the outer world._ '

 **"Hey!"**

Naruko barely stopped herself from snickering out loud. She then noticed that the mist had been blown away, and Sasuke and Sakura were trembling. She didn't really understand why until she felt a faint trace of Killing Intent flooding the area.

' _They call_ this _Killing Intent? Geez, how pathetic,_ ' Naruko internally rolled her eyes.

 **"Kit, you only think that because I gave you training on how to withstand small portions of my Killing Intent, which no insignificant amount,"** Kurama rolled his eyes.

' _Yes furball, thank you very much_ ,' his host said dismissively.

 **"Hmph, ungrateful brat..."**

Sasuke's eyes shot to the side, where Naruko's eyes were flickering around with a fair amount of boredom. ' _How can she be so calm? This is such an intense thirst for blood. One shallow breath, one tiny movement of the eye, is enough to bring about instant death. If it goes on like this, I'll go insane! The clash of two Jonin intent to kill... I've never felt anything so chilling. It's as if my own life is being choked off. No... I can't bear it! I'd rather take my own life!'_

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stopped shaking, his head snapping up to meet his sensei, though he never turned from his place in front of his team.

"Calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die." He turned to reassure them with his familiar eye-smile, his tone growing a little lighter. "Trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Zabuza taunted, landing between Team 7's Manji Formation. "It's over."


	7. Oh, Brother

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

' _Um... how did my negative-emotion-senses_ not _detect him?'_ Naruko asked her tenant, who shrugged. ' _Well aren't you helpful_ ,' she grumbled as she prepared to defend herself.

Kakashi was quicker as he launched himself at Zabuza, driving a kunai into his gut and eliciting a cry of surprise and pain. But instead of the thick, coppery scent of blood filling the air, the only sound was the trail of water that was leaking from the stab wound.

Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, and Naruko quickly called out, "Kakashi, behind you!" as the one in front of him turned to water.

"DIE!" Zabuza roared as he swung his sword through Kakashi's torso, cleaving him clean in half. However instead of blood and cloth and skin, water splattered to the ground, leaving Zabuza stunned. ' _The Water Clone Jutsu_,' the rogue ninja realized. ' _It can't be... even in the mist, he saw through my illusion and copied it in an instant._ '

A kunai was suddenly against his jugular, and Kakashi ordered, "Don't move. Now it's over. You're finished."

Dark chuckles erupted from deep in Zabuza's throat. "Finished? You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation. I'll never be defeated by a copycat ninja like you. You are full of surprises, though. You'd already copied my Water Clone Jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed... you made your clone say those words to draw my attention while _you_ hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move. Nice try—"

Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza was suddenly behind him again.

"—but I'm not that easy to fool!"

Once again the Zabuza he had cornered fell into a puddle of water, and Kakashi barely ducked in time as the Kubikiribōchō swung horizontally with an aim for the Jonin's head. It struck deep into the ground, but Zabuza swapped hands and flung himself in the air with a kick straight for Kakashi's head. It connected, and Kakashi was sent flying.

"Now," Zabuza said seemingly to himself as he grabbed his sword out of the ground and ran towards the Jonin with such speed that he became a blur of colour. His eyes widened when all he saw was makibishi spikes. "Trying to slow me down... how foolish." He turned and jumped upwards just as Kakashi landed into the water headfirst.

"I can't believe Kakashi-sensei got kicked through the air like that," Sakura whispered, a little terrified at what the rogue ninja could do.

"I can," Naruko said bluntly.

"How can you say that? Isn't he your brother?" Sakura exclaimed.

Naruko shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, but he's not invincible, you know. At some point he was bound to get his ass kicked."

"He has great physical strength too," Sasuke appraised.

"Who, the cowprint man or our one-eyed sensei?" Naruko asked humorously, though her eyes were searching for any sign of her brother surfacing.

"Zabuza," Sasuke deadpanned with slight amusement tinging his voice.

Kakashi finally surfaced, his gravity-defying hair looking very... well, non-gravity-defying. He lifted his arm, confused. ' _This isn't just normal water. It's dense_ — _heavy._ '

"Fool..." Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and started weaving hand signs. "Water Prison Jutsu!"

' _No!'_ Kakashi shifted to send a jutsu back, dodge the water prison, anything. But the water was stopping him from moving too much; he was in his enemy's element. A sphere of water enveloped the Jonin, and he glanced up at his adversary, who had one hand in the Water Prison to sustain the jutsu. ' _Escaping into the water? Bad mistake_ ,' he thought ruefully. He only hoped his mistake wouldn't cost him his team. And possibly the success of the mission as well. But mostly his team. Because, y'know, much as he hated to admit it, he had grown quite attached.

Zabuza chuckled darkly. "This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel. It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi... I'll finish you off later, but first your little friends have to be eliminated. Water Clone Jutsu!"

Kakashi inwardly growled. ' _He's even more skilled than I thought!'_ His gaze swept across his team and client, scanning the landscape that was flooded with the thick mist.

Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened as a human-shaped water embodiment emerged from the water, quickly taking the shape and colour of its creator. Naruko simply stared impassively at it, completely unfazed at the situation at hand. Why wouldn't she be, after having prior experience with something that looked like her older brother created?

Zabuza chuckled darkly as he gazed at the three Genin. "You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja. When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you, then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly your profile has been entered in my Bingo Book, _then_ you may have earned the title "ninja"."

The water clone made a one-handed ram sign and mist started flowing even thicker, blinding the youngsters from their surroundings.

"But to call upstarts like you ninja, is a _joke_."

' _He disappeared again!'_ Sakura thought as she watched the mist close in, leaving her sightless and thus vulnerable to any attack.

"Listen, get the bridge builder and run!" Kakashi called, his voice a little muffled due to his water imprisonment. "You can't win this fight! He's using all his power to keep me in this prison, so he can only fight you with his water clone, but the clone can't go far from his real body! If you get away from him, he can't follow. Now _run!"_

' _Run away?_ Not _an option_ ,' Sasuke gritted his teeth. ' _That became unthinkable the moment you got caught. No matter how fast we run or how far we go, he'll track us down. And wipe us out. If we try a Manji Formation in defense he'll get around it in an instant. In the end..._ ' Sasuke took a glance at Naruko who was glaring at Zabuza with three shuriken between her fingers, and then over at Sakura who was watching their client while also keeping an eye on their sensei, ' _...if we're on our own, we're finished. Our only chance of survival is to rescue you_.'

"How is Kaka-nii breathing, let alone shouting, in that water-thing?" Naruko wondered aloud suddenly. Sasuke barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes in fond exasperation as Sakura covered her mouth to stop a snicker from escaping. Kakashi would've facepalmed if he could, but he was stuck in his watery confinement.

"Damn Mister Cowprint, you sure can pack a kick," Naruko's amused voice came through the mist, causing both the raven and pinkette to spin to their left where they found Naruko holding Zabuza's foot in her hand.

Everyone's eyes widened.

Naruko blinked at their surprised expressions. "What? I've had training," she stated simply as if that explained everything.

Sasuke and Sakura facepalmed at her simple logic, half-expecting that answer. They hadn't been a team for very long, but already they had gotten so used to her and her simple answers as if they had grown up with her. Well in a sense they had, but they weren't all that close when they were younger. Especially when you compared it to now.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed at the simple yet offending comment. "You're just a brat."

"Maybe," a smooth male voice interrupted as the thick mist suddenly dispersed like it was never there, revealing a sandy-haired boy with bright pink eyes and a taller man with shoulder-length brown hair and a blue kimono beside him. "But she's _my_ brat," the shorter male finished with a light smirk. The brunette man beside him sighed as if annoyed by something.

Zabuza's eyes widened. "M-Mizukage-sama..."

Naruko's eyes narrowed slightly as her head snapped to Zabuza's water clone who was staring with slight fear in his eyes at the shorter man a few yards away from them. Sakura stifled a gasp as Kakashi's, Tazuna's and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Wait, what do you mean she's "your brat"?" Sakura suddenly asked, confused.

Yagura Karatachi blinked at the girl, having not noticed her before a smug smile came over his face. "She's my brat, and that's all you need to know."

Sasuke's and Sakura's heads snapped to Naruko, who was blinking blankly at the boy-Mizukage.

"Come again for Little Fudge?"

Everyone face-faulted at the blonde's blank tone. For Kami's sake, the Fourth Mizukage himself had just called her "my brat", and that was all she could say?

Naruko stared at her normally stoic teammate and pinkette teammate before sighing and letting go of Zabuza's foot before walking over and whacking the back of the sandy-haired boy's head, causing him to yelp in pain. "I'm not an object, baka. And stop acting so damn smug! What's with the sudden possessiveness anyway? Hang on, when did you become Mizukage and why did I not hear of this?"

Yagura opened his mouth to answer, but Naruko interrupted, "Hold that thought; if you're the Mizukage, does that mean you came out here just to take a break from your paperwork?"

"You know him just as well as I do," the brunette man beside the Mizukage sighed heavily.

"That paperwork is evil! Pure evil, I tell you!" he exclaimed, rubbing his sore head. Naruko, in response, merely hit his head again.

"Stop hitting me, child!" Yagura shouted, both hands clutching his head which was sporting two large, red bumps. "This is how you greet your beloved older brother after two years apart?"

Naruko's mouth quirked up. "Love you."

Yagura smiled lopsidedly back before Utakata sighed, "Shut up and deal with it like the man you're supposed to be."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"That you're a boy and not yet a man, even though you're Mizukage."

"Naruko~!"

"Boy, you are as hot as lava but just as thick," Naruko stated bluntly. Utakata guffawed at the complisult, and even Sasuke and Sakura had to put their hands to their mouths to stop from laughing out loud.

Yagura turned red. "I am _not_ thick!"

"Yagura," Utakata put a "sympathetic" hand on the shorter male's shoulder, "you once ate a vanilla-scented _candle_."

"Oh, that was my fault, I shouldn't have left that in the kitchen," Naruko said quickly and then paused. "Wait... that was lit. _Man_ , you dumb."

"Shut up!" Yagura snapped, reddening slightly. "Dammit child, I just saved your ass and this is how you show your gratitude?" he fumed, on the edge of throwing a temper tantrum. Looks like someone didn't change at all... and somehow Naruko found that comforting.

"Who said I was showing my gratitude?"

"I will _kill_ you!"

"Have fun with that, my dear older brother."

"And you just had to pull that card out," Yagura cursed at the wide blue eyes that he knew were anything but innocent; they were the eyes of a devilish fox.

"You know it, you know me, and you love me," Naruko smiled sweetly and patted his head. Noticing something, she blinked once with eyes that were immediately cleared of their cheeky sparkle, void of emotion as she started to gently trace Yagura's stitch with her finger. "Yagura..."

Yagura blinked, but before he could ask what was wrong, she continued.

" _Who_ and _what_ the hell happened to your face?"

Yagura grimaced as Utakata momentarily put his fist to his mouth and swallowed thickly. "It's... not a pretty story. I'd rather you not ask."

Naruko cocked an eyebrow. "Yagu-nii, we're family, and family should trust each other enough to not keep secrets from each other." Yagura opened his mouth but Naruko placed a finger on his lips. "Ah-poot-tu-tat. Your office."

Yagura sighed, giving in and nodded.

Naruko smiled with satisfaction and then turned behind her. "Mister Cowprint, please kindly release my sensei from your water prison bubble thingy, and Sasuke, Sakura... I'll see you at Tazuna-san's house later."

Zabuza opened his mouth to retort to the little girl, but Yagura's chakra, imbued with a Bijuu, flared, causing everyone except Naruko and Utakata to fall to their knees. Zabuza internally shuddered at the eyes that glared at him with a burning wrath; he practically scrambled to obey. The Demon of the Mist scowled at the girl and disappeared in a swirl of mist, his face black enough to convey the message he didn't voice.

 ** _I will be back, and I_ will _destroy you._**

Kakashi hopped back onto dry land, and before anyone from the Leaf could open their mouths to protest, Naruko had clapped her hands once in delight that Zabuza had let her sensei go and disappeared before she herself disappeared in a flash of yellow, taking the child-Mizukage and his bodyguard along with her.

Sakura blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Did that just happen?"

"Judging by Zabuza's and Naruko's absence, yes," Sasuke answered sarcastically.

"I wonder how Naruko knew the Mizukage," Kakashi murmured to himself. "She acted familiarly with him... _too_ familiarly."

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"What do you know about the Fourth Mizukage?" Sakura asked curiously. Sasuke was also staring at him with curiosity fiercely burning in his onyx eyes.

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "While most view him as a dangerous ruler, the fact that he acted that way around Naruko proves that those two are close, very close. He might, in a way, be like the Shodai — dangerous, but relaxed and friendly and maybe even childlike in non-hostile situations."

Sakura frowned. "Naruko always lived at the Leaf, right? So how...?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's not in our place to pry or ask. But I think she may have had some past affiliation with the Hidden Mist, if her relationship with the current Mizukage is any indication. Besides, she did call him older brother."

"But if the Mist sent Naruko over to the Leaf, wouldn't Hokage-sama have a letter or some written explanation? Naruko would've had an escort, too," Sasuke frowned as he tried to think of why his teammate knew the Mizukage so well.

Kakashi sighed. "We can ask her when she comes to meet us at Tazuna's house. But for now, let's just go there. Tazuna, care to lead the way?"

Tazuna slowly nodded, still trying to process the fact that a mere child, the blank-faced girl, had at one point been close with the current Mizukage, and still was. The Mizukage was rumored to be the type of leader who would do anything for his village, even if it meant giving up his friends or his life. He was also the one who stopped the Bloodline Purge that was about to start when he had received the title.

Tazuna shook the thought from his head and quickly started leading the way to his home, still rather paranoid about his life and safety.

Sakura suddenly snorted, and everyone looked at her in surprise and curiosity. "S-Sorry," she giggled. "It's just... Mizukage-sama's bodyguard said that he once ate a vanilla-scented candle, that was _lit_."

Sasuke started, miraculously, chuckling as well. "The distinguished Fourth Mizukage ate a lit vanilla-scented candle that Naruko left in the kitchen?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. Of course they could find something funny in the weirdest of situations. Maybe being a sensei wouldn't be so bad after all... not that it was even bad to begin with, especially with these three mini-devils.

* * *

 **OMAKE:**

"Yagura, quit whining tell me the story," Naruko frowned with her hands on her hips.

"It's an ugly story," Yagura wheedled, trying to get out of telling Naruko the story behind his scar. "And I have a surprise for you~"

Naruko's eyes flashed with interest but was quickly replaced by blank neutrality. "Don't really care about that right now."

"But you love surprises!"

"Yeah, _ten-year-old me_ loved them. Now that we're in your office, you're going to tell me the damn story and stop with the whining and trying to get out of it."

"..."

"I'll do half your paperwork for you, deal?"

"But..."

"Deal?"

"But..."

"DEAL?"

"Butt," Yagura muttered with a cheeky smile as he held up a baby fox with its butt towards his little-sister-figure.

"Yagura," Naruko said sternly, although amusement glimmering in her blue eyes.

Yagura merely looked at the baby fox and then put the hind legs down, showing the fox's private parts, smirking at the blonde.

"Deal~"

Naruko facepalmed. "YAGURA!"


	8. The End of Gato's Reign

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **A/N: I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how much time had passed since I last updated! I live in Australia, where the bushfires were, and I was really worried about the friends I have who live up there, as well as a well-beloved school campsite up in Mallacoota. I have a bunch of unfinished drafts for this story, jumping back and forth as ideas come to me, so I'm trying to stick to the anime while also incorporating my own ideas for the first part before I veer off in a completely different direction.**

 **Also, thank you to everyone for the many favourites and follows, as well as the reviews. It really means a lot to me.**

 **Once more, I apologize a thousand times over** **for the late update; I do this quite spontaneously.**

* * *

When Naruko finally arrived at Tazuna's house, escorted by none other than the Mizukage's own bodyguard himself, it was safe to say Tazuna's family was stunned silent for at least half an hour. By then, Sakura and Naruko had finished with the dinner preparations they had gently taken off Tsunami's hands while Sasuke led the woman to the couch to sit down. Inari, Tsunami's son who was about eight at most, stared open-mouthed at the Mist shinobi who started helping Naruko.

Team 7 themselves couldn't stop themselves from looking over at the two inconspicuously at times, still curious over what bond the kunoichi and legendary shinobi shared. The way they moved so fluidly around each other, as if they had been doing this for years, struck them as odd since they had never once seen Naruko interact with a shinobi outside of the Leaf.

Once dinner was set out on the table, Naruko exchanged a few words with the man and hugged him goodbye at the door, watching him leave. When everyone was already seated, Sasuke stood up to get Naruko, but the blonde was already on her way back.

She sat down between her teammates, picking up her chopsticks and bowl full of rice as if she hadn't just did something no one in the current household had ever dreamed of. "Itadakimasu," she murmured. The rest of the table echoed her sentiment, and started eating. After a few minutes of heavy silence, Naruko sighed and set down her chopsticks. "You want to know who that guy was, don't you."

"He was the Mizukage's bodyguard, right?" Sakura blurted out. "How do you know them?"

"He... his name is Utakata, and I suppose you could call him the Mizukage's bodyguard. I refer to him as Yagura's babysitter," Naruko rolled her eyes fondly as she picked up her chopsticks again and took a piece of salmon. "They're my brothers, from the family I once had." She took a sideways glance at Sasuke as she did so.

Sasuke blinked. So those were two of her "overprotective brothers" that she had spoken of the day he told her he was out to kill his own brother.

"The... family you once had?" Inari asked quietly, the first words he had said since Team 7 had arrived in his home.

Naruko nodded. "I had eight family members, but because of a threat, they split us up in order for us to stay alive. We're now scattered over the Five Great Nations. It's the first time since I've seen my brothers in two years. In fact, they're the first family members I've seen since that day. And who knows when, or if, I'll ever see any of them again."

"So... you know pain, too," Inari murmured.

"Everyone knows pain," Naruko told him, her sensitive hearing having picked up on what he said without a problem. "Ever since birth I've had a heavy burden upon me because of what I have been forced to become, and a majority of the world doesn't take kindly to it. Sasuke also lost his entire family when he was young, and Kaka-nii lost both his father and his team. At one point or another, everyone will learn pain. It's just a matter of what we do about it."

"What did you do?" Inari was facing Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced over at Naruko. "I... am not the best person to talk about it. I didn't go about my pain the right way, until someone decided to slap some common sense into me."

Naruko hummed proudly as she chewed her food. "It was about time someone hit it into you anyway. Guess common sense isn't all that common, huh?"

"Hey!"

Sakura giggled. "You two are unbelievable."

Naruko winked at her. "That's what makes this team an amazing one, right?"

"Never a dull moment with you," Sakura shook her head with a fond smile. "One of these days, you two will get into a sticky situation that you can't banter yourselves out of," she teased.

The blonde stuck out her tongue, then grinned and sidled up to the pinkette. "But you love us anyway, and you'll bail us out."

"I will most definitely _not_ bail you out of prison," Sakura answered as she picked up a clump of rice, ignoring Naruko's mock-hurt expression. "I'll break you out."

Like a switch flipped, Naruko's face lit up as she pumped her fist. "Yes! Ha!" she thrust a finger in Sasuke's face while slinging her other arm around Sakura, "can _you_ claim you have a friend who will undoubtedly break you out of prison?"

Sasuke snorted. "Dobe, why would you even be in prison in the first place?"

"Who knows? The world is a strange place," Naruko said cryptically.

Sasuke shook his head. "I genuinely worry for your future if we're not there to keep you in line."

"Aw," Naruko cooed, "Emo Duckbutt _does_ have some emotions behind that avenger front after all! I am _this_ close to cracking open your shell for everyone to see the "true Sasuke"!" she exclaimed with an unsettling amount of glee, her pointer finger and thumb less than an inch apart.

"Somehow I doubt he'd like to be "cracked open for everyone to see" like an exposed nerve," Sakura muttered under her breath, deciding to ignore her strange teammates. Kami, was she the only normal person on this team? Even her sensei was strange, and that was putting it lightly!

"Na-ru- _ko_." There was a dangerous edge to Sasuke's tone.

"Yes, Sas- _uke?"_ And a teasing one to Naruko's.

"...hn."

"I win!" Naruko declared happily, eating her dinner a lot faster than before.

' _Oh for the love of—_ ' Sakura quickly cut off her train of thought, rolling her eyes. "Hey, you two, Inari asked you a question you have yet to answer."

Naruko sweatdropped and turned to the young boy. "Sorry Inari, Sasuke was being too idiotic to ignore. What was your question again?"

"Says the one who called _me_ idiotic," Sasuke muttered sullenly under his breath.

"Because you _are_ ," Naruko rolled her eyes before pointing her chopsticks at the Uchiha. "Now you, shut up so I can listen to Inari."

Sasuke gaped at the blonde before giving a huff and stuffing his mouth with rice. " _Rude_."

* * *

It would've been nice to go home to Tazuna's and have another one of Tsunami's delightful meals, but _noooooooooooo_ , Zabuza decided just had to decide that now would be a perfect time to try take out Tazuna once more. Kakashi had to especially draw his attention away from Naruko, the swordsman clearly having a grudge against the young girl.

But as it was, he left his apprentice Haku to Team 7. Sakura was originally meant to protect the bridge builder while Sasuke and Naruko faced off against the masked shinobi, but the pinkette had been called in to help heal Sasuke from the senbon that were still piercing his flesh. Naruko had taken one look and told him pressure points had been hit.

Now she was doing her best to think up of ways to get out of this jutsu Haku had them in. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to have Sakura come in with them, too, but she had no choice. Her chakra would've harmed Sasuke instead of heal him, and she couldn't afford to leave them both vulnerable to Haku's attacks.

' _Yagura, now would be a great time for you to pop up out of nowhere,_ ' the jinchuuriki thought through gritted teeth. ' _Kurama, if you have any way of contacting Isobu or Saiken..._ '

 **"Believe me, I'm working on it, Kit."**

Muffled _clangs_ through the thick mist assured her that her older-brother-figure and Zabuza were still at it. Tazuna was probably safe with her sensei, even though he was occupied. But both of their assailants were occupied, too. Naruko shrugged internally; she had no time to worry about the old drunkard. She had to do what she could to protect her teammates from Haku and his Ice Dome... whatever jutsu. Excuse her if she couldn't be bothered listening, let alone remembering, the names of jutsu that were used against her when she didn't have those affinities. Besides, she had a Bijuu that was thousands of years old inside of her, with expansive knowledge on these kinds of things. She didn't need to put effort into remembering them.

"Oh, you really got it this time."

Naruko's ears twitched, and she looked over at the two figures blanketed by the now-thinning fog. Or would "mist" be more appropriate, seeing as this was the Hidden Village of the Mist? Flecks of blood covered both Kakashi and Zabuza, however the latter's arms were hanging uselessly by his side. The two kunai sticking out from him told Naruko all she needed to know; Kakashi had disabled him temporarily.

"You disappoint me, Zabuza."

Naruko turned her sharp eyes over to where a short little man, roughly around Yagura's height, stood with a cane clasped in his hands in front of him. A smirk that could only be described as evil curled his lips, and his eyes were covered with black sunglasses. Hairs sticking out from his mouth area resembled that of a Magikarp, and Naruko could only imagine that was what Gato believed to be his "mustache".

"I both hate and love Yagura for showing me that TV show," Naruko muttered under her breath. At her Sakura's raised eyebrows, Naruko chuckled sheepishly and waved her off. She returned her attention to in front of her, scanning the large crowd of mercenaries behind the stout businessman as she calculated the best strategy for taking out as many as she could. She had no idea how injured Kakashi was, or how close to recovery Sasuke was. Worst case scenario, she would have to rely on Kurama's chakra. But hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"Kakashi..." Zabuza's low voice intoned, "I apologize. Our fight ends here. As long as my reason to take down Tazuna is gone, there is no need to fight you, either."

"But perhaps, Zabuza, you will find within yourself a reason to fight for _me_ once more," a young, yet authoritative voice rang out. The ex-Swordsman of the Mist and his apprentice jerked around in shock and surprise, and Naruko's shoulders visibly sank in relief.

"Who's the midget?" Gato scowled, even as Yagura and Utakata came into view, courtesy of the former dissolving the unnatural mist. "A bratty wannabe and his babysitter?"

Utakata's eyes widened at the man's rude words. "Oh, you're in for it now," he muttered under his breath as Yagura started spluttering indignantly beside him. Even Zabuza was looking at the tycoon with a measured amount of sympathy, knowing exactly how this was going to go down — because no one insulted the Mizukage about his age and height. No one.

Well, except for one person.

And speaking of said person... everyone's attention turned to the side of the bridge where a certain blonde had just fallen over, clutching her stomach as muffled laughter slipped out from her hand clamped firmly over her mouth. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a somewhat fond smirk at his teammate's half-hearted effort to contain her mirth, slipping into a slightly relaxed stance. Meanwhile, Sakura crouched down to ensure the blonde wouldn't asphyxiate, though she kept an eye on the drama unfolding before them.

"Midget? Bratty _wannabe?"_ Yagura muttered, voice rising with every syllable. Utakata suddenly tapped his shoulder, turning his attention to the slightly injured members of Team 7. There was silence for a good minute before Yagura's fuchsia eyes suddenly lit up with a blazing fury, his grip on his staff tightening considerably. "How. _Dare_. You."

Before anyone could blink, the Mizukage had Gato against his chest in a headlock, the pointed tip of the staff dangerously pressed against the shorter — but just barely — man's jugular.

"First you land on my territory without my permission," Yagura hissed, his voice ringing out in the otherwise deathly-silent area. "Then you make this land your own by terrifying the citizens and murdering those who stand in your way. But your next mistake?" He placed his mouth next to the trembling businessman's ear. "That was going after my baby sister and her team."

He shoved Gato away from him, and Utakata grabbed Gato before his face could kiss the ground.

"But above all, your first mistake was thinking you could control the seas." Like a switch flipped, the bright pink faded into a menacing red. " _I_ control the seas."

Gato's whimpers started growing into terrified shrieks as demonic chakra started to seep out of the Mizukage's figure. Silently, Naruko got to her feet and began walking over to her enraged brother, her footsteps silent on the half-built bridge. Neither Sakura nor Sasuke tried to stop her.

"But make no mistake — and you've certainly made a lot of those in these past few months — I do not control the seas because I am Mizukage," Yagura continued in a measured tone, though fury lined his words. "I control them because I am the jinchuuriki of the Three-Tailed Turtle. And _this_ is _his_ territory."

Naruko, who was slowly nearing the Mizukage, flicked her wrist behind her. Kakashi jerked his head at Sasuke, who quickly grabbed Tazuna, Sakura following him off the bridge. The Jonin cast one last look at his student, and a brilliant blue flashed at him for a moment as the blonde girl dipped her head slightly in reassurance. Kakashi returned the gesture, pushing the doubt away as he followed his two students back to the mainland. Naruko had this under control, and all they had to do — all they _could_ do — was believe in her.

Naruko looked back to her older brothers; Utakata's face was set in stone, hate burning beneath his icy exterior. And even from where she was standing, Naruko could sense the aura Yagura was radiating that could only be described as a blazing inferno of fury. Gato was trembling like a leaf in the unforgiving wind, his knees knocking together so hard Naruko could practically hear them bruising as a dark patch formed on his pants. Naruko sighed mentally; she loved them, she truly and honestly did, but sometimes overprotective brothers were such a pain to deal with.

Suddenly, a sigh slipped from his lips as the Mizukage's shoulders lost their tension at the same time the demonic chakra disappeared. "But," he said slowly, in an almost weary tone, "that is also exactly why I will not kill you. Because as I remember someone once saying: _as jinchuuriki, it is our duty to protect our designated villages. We are not weapons, tools to be manipulated. We are humans._ "

Naruko stopped in her tracks, surprise flickering in her eyes.

" _We are jinchuuriki, the power of human sacrifice. This is what we are, and what we will be until the day we die_." Yagura half-turned to meet Naruko's eyes, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth ever so slightly. "So what kind of example to the younger generation of my family would I be, if I did the exact opposite?"

Naruko smiled.

* * *

Team 7 stood before the newly-constructed bridge, the citizens of Wave standing with the Yagura, Utakata, Zabuza and Haku. The newly-reinstated Swordsman of the Mist reached out a hand to shake Naruko's. "You did good, kid," Zabuza smiled underneath his mask of bandages, his eyes soft. He saw a lot of Haku in this child, and despite how much he had despised her in the beginning, she had grown on him.

Naruko smiled. "Thank you for the kenjutsu lessons, Zabuza-san."

Over the past week in which the rest of the bridge was in its final stages of construction, Naruko had expressed her interest in kenjutsu. Upon hearing that, and the name "Uzumaki" that Yagura had slyly dropped, Zabuza had promptly taken it upon himself to teach her kenjutsu. That had been an interesting week for both the team and the village. Haku had seemed to be a little jealous at times, but Naruko would always sense this and invite him to join, to which Haku would always politely decline. Haku wasn't really much of a weapons person, Naruko had deduced. But on another note, the young Uzumaki couldn't wait to go back to Konoha and find herself a katana, which she had promised Zabuza to practice with daily and take care of carefully.

"No problem," Zabuza patted her head. "You've got quite a talent there, kid."

"Naruko," Yagura called, and the blonde turned to see her brother looking at her quite impatiently.

With a laugh, Naruko realized what Yagura was waiting for. Leaving no time for second thoughts, Naruko wrapped her arms around the swordsman's torso and squeezed gently. "Thank you again, Zabuza-san." Then she quickly ran towards her brothers, leaving a stunned Zabuza standing there.

Kakashi chuckled, slapping Zabuza's back lightly. "And that is Naruko Uzumaki for you," he said with a fond twinkle in his eye. Zabuza shook his head wordlessly, though a fond smile curved his mouth.

Yagura's arms unfolded just as Naruko launched herself into the air, landing in his arms as she hugged him tightly. "See you soon, Yagu-nii," Naruko breathed.

"Take care of yourself, Naruko," Yagura returned. His grip on his sister tightened, not wanting to let go just yet. They had found each other, and he was sure they would again, but right now he just wanted to hold on and never let go.

However a single fact was glaring at him right in the face: Naruko was a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf Village.

So he let go.

Naruko smiled at him and moved over to hug her other brother, who knelt down at her height. "As the world changes, make sure that the only thing that doesn't change, is here," Utakata said softly, smiling as he tapped Naruko's heart.

The blonde threw her arms around his neck, whispering, "Thank you for coming."

"We will always come, little sister," Utakata promised. "Always."

"Naruko," Sakura said softly, "it's time to go." As much as she hated having to separate the siblings, who clearly loved each other very much, their time on this mission had come to an end and it was time for them to go back home. Naruko nodded at them, sadness apparent in her eyes. With one last hug to both her brothers, she pulled away and jogged to catch up with her team.

"Well? What shall we call the bridge?" Tazuna wondered aloud idly.

Inari grinned. "The Great Naruko Bridge!"

Yagura threw his head back with a loud groan, Haku smiled and both Utakata and Zabuza started laughing. "Don't _ever_ tell her that, or it'll undoubtedly go to her head," the oh-so-distinguished Mizukage practically whined. "And I don't need her having _another_ thing to hold against me."

"Look carefully, Haku," Zabuza chuckled, "this is who we'll be taking orders from, now."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Yagura exclaimed indignantly. The swordsman only roared louder with laughter. As the citizens of Wave joined in the laughter, with his new Swordsman and his bodyguard continuously poking fun at him, Yagura started to tune them out as his eyes lingered on the now-empty path.

' _Wherever you go... whatever you do... I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, and as long as I'm living, my sister you'll be._ ' Yagura allowed a small, sad smile to lift his mouth. ' _You and I both know our bond is too strong to be broken by mere distance. May we one day be together again, as a family, and this time, for good._ '

"Ready to head back?"

Yagura glanced up at Utakata, and nodded briefly. "Yes... I believe so. After all," and here, a grin lit up his childish face, "we have letters to write."

Utakata shook his head with a breath of laughter. "We shouldn't."

Yagura's eyebrows waggled impishly. "But will that stop me?" He conjured up an Aqua Portal. With a reassuring nod from Utakata, Zabuza and Haku walked through it first.

"No," Utakata sighed, "I suppose not." He grinned cheekily at Yagura as he made to walk through the portal, "But when one of the jinchuuriki come screaming for you, I will not hide you. And when questions are raised on how the _distinguished_ Fourth Mizukage knows _lowly shinobi_ from the many villages, I will not cover for you either."

Yagura pouted as he followed. "You're no fun, Oo-ta-ka-tee," he enunciated boredly.

"I'm _trying_ to keep us safe, Ya- _gurl_ -ra," Utakata returned.

"Oi, I look nothing like a girl! And no, you're not trying to keep us safe, you're being a killjoy!"

"Yagura... _why_ must you _always_ do this?"

* * *

"You okay, Naruko?" Sakura asked in concern at her teammate, who appeared to be in a daze as she walked mindlessly along the path.

Naruko hummed lightly, turning to smile at her pink-haired friend. "You know, I miss them more than ever, Sakura. But if I learned one thing from this week, it's that we're so distracted by how things end, we often forget how beautiful the beginning was."

Blue eyes turned up to the sky, watching as orange slowly overtook the deepening blue. "The time I spent with them this week reminded me of how beautiful our family was. How much we loved each other. How we would do anything for each other. And that gives me all the more reason to try hard at everything I do, because I know even with this distance between us, they'll always be there for me and they'd want me to make the most out of every opportunity I have."

Naruko flashed a bright grin. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do." Suddenly, she darted forward in a flash of yellow. "Race you to the campsite!"

"Wait!" Kakashi cried, taking off after his sister, Sakura and Sasuke right behind him. "I realize your father specialized in speed, but must you go so fast? And which campsite are we aiming for? Naruko!"

Carefree laughter and shouts of alarm and joy rang through the forest, as the sun started its descent. Because after all, as we grow up and are constantly learning new things, meeting new people and having new experiences, it's all too easy to forget about our past. Some people come into our lives and quickly go, while others stay for a while and leave footprints on our heart. And we are never, ever the same. But even so, Naruko was slowly learning that once you love someone, they stay in your heart. And to have a precious person to protect is what makes shinobi all the more stronger.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so, so sorry this was so short! I couldn't really think of anything else, and I don't think you want to read a fight scene that you could just watch on the anime. Besides, I'm not exactly the greatest at writing fight scenes...**

 **Anyway, hopefully the next update won't take as long to come, but who knows; exams are upon us! I'll try my best though, but once the bombshell of homework and assignments hit, I'm not sure I'll have a lot of time to write. Rest assured, this story will be finished one day, and I have quite a lot of drafts lined up just waiting to be a) completed, and b) published.**

 **Until next time!**


	9. Chuunin Exams

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **Hehe, sorry for the extra-long wait, guys. High school is a nightmare, especially with this whole COVID-19 situation. One upside is that I have more time, which means I can write more :)**

 **Hope everyone's staying safe and healthy out there!**

* * *

"I'm _bored_ ," Naruko announced as she suddenly dropped down from the tree above, startling a shriek out of Sakura and a curse from Sasuke as he dropped his bento. The Uchiha survivor took a moment to grieve his beautiful, delicious, homemade bento... and then shot a glare at his fox-like blonde teammate.

"How _dare_ you cause such a cruel, _needless_ death!" he hissed.

Sakura blinked at him, and then leaned forward to brush her hand against his forehead. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked him in concern.

Sasuke swatted her away with a frown. "I'm fine, why?"

"Sasuke," Sakura leaned forward to take one of his hands in both of hers. "We love you. We're here for you. We know that was an incredibly tough time for you to go through on your own, and you were unbelievably young. So if you're going through a relapse, or a flashback, _that's okay_. We'll be here when you wake back up to reality. I promise."

Naruko was stifling laughter with her hand as Sasuke grew even more confused. "What? Sakura, what in the world are you talking about?"

"No one died, Sasuke," Sakura said slowly, still looking at him with a concerned air. "This is the year 2003, not 1997. Okay?" **(1)**

Sasuke slammed his free hand onto his forehead. "I _know_ that, Sakura!" he groaned as the girls promptly burst into laughter. "I'm talking about my bento!" With a very un-Uchiha-like, dramatic flair, Sasuke pointed at the food lying on the grass. "It died a tragic and premature death! And all because of _her!"_ he spat venomously at Naruko, who raised a skeptic eyebrow at him.

"If that's what all the drama is about, no problem. I'll treat you to lunch."

"As long as it's not ramen," Sakura agreed, standing up. "You need a more balanced diet, and no offense meant, but I sincerely doubt that Kakashi has time to ensure that."

"None taken, he's very irresponsible," Naruko said nonchalantly.

"So? What are we having for lunch?" Sasuke asked as he joined them.

Naruko instantly looked sheepish. "I was gonna go to Ichiraku's... but Sakura just said not to."

The pinkette shook her head with a laugh. "Okay, how about we go back to my place and I cook something for you guys?"

Naruko lit up, "You cook, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura flushed and nodded, suddenly shy. "My parents are often away a lot, so I had to learn to take care of myself. And unlike you," she teasingly tapped Naruko's nose, "I was smart enough to learn how to cook things _other_ than instant ramen. And not to toot my own horn but I can make a pretty good omurice, if you're interested."

"I'm interested," Naruko said at once, blue eyes gleaming at the very thought of food.

Sasuke smiled with a hint of gratitude. "I'd like that too. Thanks, Sakura."

The pinkette smiled and came around between them as she looped her arms through theirs. "Let's go then. My house is this way."

It was nice, Naruko supposed, to have two children her age she could do anything and everything with. It made her miss Gaara and Fuu because the three of them had been together from the very beginning, but that wasn't to say she didn't like hanging out with Sakura and Sasuke any less; in fact, the three of them had been practically inseparable after their first mission out of the village.

Suddenly an angry shout and a high-pitched shriek had them jerking to a halt. Exchanging looks of mutual understanding, Team 7, with Naruko in the lead, ran down an alleyway shortcut which would lead them to the source of the cries.

Immediately, they saw a girl and a boy — perhaps one or two years older than themselves — with three young children — two boys and a girl. They were foreigners, Sakura could tell that much by their forehead protectors. The girl had sandy-blonde hair tied up in four pigtails and bored, teal eyes as she watched her fellow villager with a cold, indifferent air. Sakura noted, with no small amount of curiosity and amusement, that she had a massive black fan on her back. What was that even _for?_ To shade her from the blistering desert sun? Sakura almost giggled out loud at her own thoughts, but stopped in time. Regardless, Naruko shot her a curious look which she waved off with a smile.

Her companion, on the other hand, was dressed in all black with strange purple markings on his face and what seemed like cat ears on his head under the black cloth; he was holding a little boy by his scarf.

"That hurt, you little punk," he growled, shaking the kid a little.

"Konohamaru," Naruko murmured, instantly recognizing the Sandaime's grandchild.

"Stop that. You'll get yelled at later," the older girl scolded, though she seemed as if she couldn't care less as she turned away from the kitty-impersonator.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, ' _Who are these two and what are they doing here?'_

"Would you please let him go?" Sakura stepped forward, smiling politely at the two. "We kind of actually _like_ peace, so we don't particularly fancy being in another Shinobi World War. I'm quite sure you, or at least your village, wouldn't either."

"What do you mean?" the girl narrowed her eyes at the, as far as she was concerned, brats.

"Just that the child you're holding there," Sasuke nodded at Konohamaru, "is the grandchild of the Sandaime. And keep in mind, you're in _our_ territory here."

The boy scoffed, "You're joking." He brought the kid closer to his face, sneering at the terrified look on Konohamaru's face. "This impudent brat is the grandchild of the Hokage? Likely story. _I'm_ the son of a Kage myself, and there's no way someone that has the respect of the Five Great Nations," he gave the boy a shake, "would be related to something like _this_."

"Leave him alone," Naruko said calmly, though her teammates recognized the dangerous glint in her eyes. She didn't tolerate bullies. Naruko marched forward and ripped the boy from the Suna shinobi's grasp. "I'm sure Konohamaru will, in time, grow into a strong, well-respected shinobi, just like his grandfather." She smiled warmly at the teary-eyed boy and set him down. "Run along now; you don't even need to _think_ about living up to that old coot of a granddad of yours. Just focus on being a child for now, alright?"

Konohamaru nodded, wiping his eyes before turning to join his two friends. The girl launched herself at him in a bawling mess, but with a sharp look from Sasuke, the three children ran from the scene.

"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" the shinobi fumed, getting right into the Leaf Genin's whiskered face. She stared calmly up at him.

"Hey—" Sasuke started, but was cut off by a cold voice.

"Kankuro. Stop that."

As if a Fireball Jutsu had landed between them, the all-black shinobi jumped back a few feet, his eyes wide as they frantically searched for something — or someone. Team 7, however, ignored his rather apparent fear as they ran toward Naruko, placing themselves at her sides. Sakura gave the blonde's hand a quick squeeze while steadily holding the Suna kunoichi's startled gaze. Naruko smiled to herself, feeling something warm at the knowledge that her teammates had her back.

"You're an embarrassment to our village," the same voice drawled. Naruko looked up.

The Uchiha warily eyed the two Suna shinobi who were looking rather fearful of the voice. He narrowed his eyes and took a half-step in front of his teammates, his arm stretched out slightly in front of Naruko, who looked at him in surprise. But the blonde's confusion at her teammate's actions quickly gave way to shock as a gasp slipped past her lips when a redheaded, seafoam-green-eyed boy materialized from sand grains right in front of them.

"Gaa-chan!" she exclaimed happily, pushing past Sasuke's warning arm and throwing herself at the surprised boy to fling her arms around his neck.

The boy stumbled backwards a bit at the unexpected weight, surprise flashing across his face. Once the identity of the girl who was currently latched around him registered, a gentle smile curved the boy's lips and his eyes softened as he took in the blonde head that had tucked itself underneath his chin.

"Naru-chan," he greeted softly, his arms tightening around her small waist.

Sasuke's eyes flashed and he barely suppressed a growl as his hand tightened into a fist. Who was this guy anyway? Why was Naruko so happy to see him? And why was he holding Naruko in such a familiar way?

Sakura frowned as she watched her sister-like friend be hugged in an almost intimate manner by the strange boy. First the Mizukage, his bodyguard, and now this one? Was this another brother of hers? How many did she even have? For two of them to be in Kiri and another to be in Suna, what exactly had happened? What was their familial relationship? Surely they weren't all related by blood.

A similar whirlwind of questions was racing through Temari and Kankuro's minds as they gaped at their normally emotionless and fearsome younger brother. Why didn't he, or more accurately his sand, attack her? How did she make him let his guard down so quickly and easily? It was like watching a wall crumble to dust, Temari observed as she watched Gaara's eyes soften. A burst of jealousy flared within her. How could this Konoha girl get so close to Gaara when they, Gaara's own siblings, couldn't? What was her relationship with Gaara, exactly? When had they even met?

"I haven't seen you in forever," Naruko whispered in a cracked voice as she tightened her hold around her brother, only able to do so as she was holding herself up on her toes.

"There hasn't been a reason for us to see each other," Gaara murmured as he heard his sister sigh contentedly and rest her cheek on his chest. "How are you holding up?" he asked into her hair, internally chuckling at the fact that people might actually think they were lovers. But no, they were just brother and sister, reuniting after two years of being apart with no contact at all, no way of even knowing if the other was alive and well.

"Better," Naruko breathed, basking in the familiar hold of her brother.

"Oi, how come we always get left out of the group hug?" a familiar male voice complained. Both Gaara and Naruko lifted their heads, smiling at the two men before them.

"Yagu-nii, Uta-nii," Naruko greeted, laughing.

"You've barely aged," Gaara said with amusement in his voice.

Yagura looked quite put out at that comment. "I'll have you know I'm twenty-two, thank you very much! That's a whole two years older than when you last saw me, Gaa-chan!"

"To some people, looking that much younger than your age would be a huge compliment," Naruko retorted.

Gaara ruffled Naruko's hair, and smirked at his short older brother, "And yet you look no older than sixteen." He then turned to the man behind Yagura, tilting his head as he took in his other brother. "Uta-nii, you look... well."

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Naruko laughed as she and Gaara went over to embrace another two of their "long-lost" brothers.

Yagura laughed openly as he squeezed Naruko tightly and then picked her up by the waist, swinging her around. Naruko squealed with delight, laughing happily. Gaara chuckled from where he was leaning on Utakata, who was smiling in amusement.

"Yagura hasn't changed," Gaara mused.

"Yagu-nii, put me down!" Naruko squealed. "You saw me last week when I was on a mission with my team, stop acting like it's been five hundred years!" she laughed. And she was still laughing as a grinning Yagura set the blonde down on the ground. "Nice to see _someone_ still has yet to change," Naruko grinned up at the boyish adult and hugged him. "Even though you can hardly be expected to in the span of one mere week."

"Oi, where's my hug?" Utakata asked with indignance lacing his voice.

Gaara punched Utakata's arm lightly. "I gave you your hug already, stop complaining!"

Utakata pouted lightly and spread his arms wide. "Naru-chan~"

"Hai, hai," the blonde responded lightly as she skipped over and hugged the blue-kimono-wearing man as Gaara promptly walked over to Yagura with an annoyed pout on his own face.

"Much better," Utakata smiled.

Yagura stuck out a tongue at his bodyguard and propped his arm up on the head of red. "Long time no see, Gaa-chan," he chuckled.

Gaara glared up at the taller boy, obviously irked by the old nickname. "I'm not ten anymore," he stated a-matter-of-factly.

"Sure, sure," Yagura chuckled, waving his displeasure off. "Whatever you say, kiddo."

Naruko suddenly punched Utakata's shoulder, eliciting a yelp of pain. "How come you didn't tell me you were coming to Konoha?" she demanded, blue eyes lighting up fiercely. "You could've at _least_ hinted at it when I was in Kiri."

"Gomen, Naru-chan," Yagura laughed sheepishly. "I actually forgot about the Chuunin Exams. We weren't even supposed to be coming here until the Hokage actually invited us, as well as the Kazekage, I believe. And by then," he shrugged, "you and your team were already on your way back to Konoha."

Naruko took a deep breath. "That's — why — you — gave — me — Vulpix!" she punched the shinobi's chest with every word before throwing her hands up with an exasperated air. "Does "messenger fox summon" ring a bell? No? And to think it was your idea in the first place," the blonde sighed in something akin to mock-disappointment.

Yagura rolled his eyes at his sister's theatrics, gently pushing her head away from him as she exploded into giggles. "Alright alright alright, that's enough from you. I should think you would be heading to where the Chuunin Exams are being held right about now."

Naruko blinked up at him. "It's starting _now?"_ she and Gaara asked in the exact same tone at the exact same time.

"Yeesh!" Yagura yelped, voice cracking. "Even two years apart, you two _still_ do that!"

"Technically, we're starting the third year after the separation." Naruko and Gaara looked at each other in surprise. Looks like things really didn't change all that much...

Utakata groaned and whirled the two around, pushing them away. "Enough with the creepiness. Go and do that weird lil' entrance-test-thingy that weeds out the weak ones. Shoo."

Laughing, Naruko hopped up onto Gaara's sand platform. "Going, going, goooooonnnnneeeee!" She squealed as the platform rushed off at a faster pace that it should be able to go at.

"And now for the most painful experience I will ever have the displeasure of going through," Yagura sighed, "making small-talk with the other Kages and patching up the relationships between them and Kiri. What a _joyful_ duty. Naruko's going to get a kick out of this..."

Utakata snickered. "You're damn right she will. In fact, she'll probably be spying on you." Before Yagura could say another word, he placed a hand on Yagura's head — much to said distinguished Mizukage's indignance — Utakata and Yagura Shunshin-ed away to where the Hokage would be expecting them with the other invited Kages.

Sakura looked at her remaining teammate. "Well... shall we?"

"I'm going to kill Naruko later," Sasuke said simply as he started to walk.

The pinkette giggled and looked back at the Sand shinobi that Gaara had left behind. "You coming with us?" she called as she walked backwards, Sasuke's hand on her shoulder to keep her from bumping into anything.

The kunoichi started, and then nodded as she started to follow them. The boy clad in black — Kankuro — was about to protest, but one glare from the girl had him silenced. Quickly catching up to the Konoha Genin, the girl said, "I'm Temari, and this is my younger brother, Kankuro."

"I'm Sakura," the pinkette smiled, "and this grumpy duck is Sasuke." From in front of her, the Uchiha "hn"ed in greeting. "Since you two are siblings, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Gaara is your brother too?"

Temari's lips thinned. "Yes... he is."

Sasuke glanced back, not liking her tone. "You don't sound too happy about that," he observed. Sakura rolled her eyes, wondering if she should hit him or cut him some slack. After all, his people skills weren't exactly well-developed. In fact, they only started "developing" after Naruko befriended him and forced him to social events.

Temari scoffed. "Well, you wouldn't be either, if your baby brother was a bloodthirsty killer and then two years ago, suddenly becomes... well, somewhat human."

Sakura frowned. "What happened? Gaara seemed perfectly normal to me just then."

"That was actually out-of-character for him," Temari admitted. "He's never... um, he doesn't like people touching him. When he was young, he lived with Uncle Yashamaru, my mother's brother. He was actually a very sweet little boy, but he was feared by the entire village. I remember once, when we were young, Kankuro and I once played in the same sand pit as him. But when Kankuro started getting friendly, our father came and we were forbidden from seeing him."

"I still don't understand why," Kankuro muttered under his breath.

"Neither do I," Temari admitted. "But when Uncle Yashamaru died, something changed about Gaara. He became... almost wild. Out of control." She sighed. "Then, sometime after his tenth birthday, he changed again. But this time, he was more... civil. Controlled. He wasn't exactly a threat to the village anymore, but he didn't show his emotions either. And I think that threw people off, because his outbursts are triggered by the tiniest thing. And by the time I finally got to meet and spend time with my little brother," she shrugged mournfully, "we were practically strangers."

Kankuro snorted. "He may have changed, Temari, but he's still dangerous."

Temari grabbed her fan and whacked his head with it, ignoring his shout of pain. "You say that, but I know you want to be close with him, too," she winked. Kankuro went red, looking away.

Sakura giggled. "You know, that actually kinda sounds like Naruko."

Temari looked at her in surprise, "The blonde girl?"

Sakura nodded. "She was a loner for most of her childhood. No one liked her, and we were all banned from playing with her. I didn't understand why, either; she seemed like a nice girl. But if we played with her once, we were forbidden from doing so ever again. By the time we were in the Academy, Naruko had no friends. But it didn't seem like she needed them; she was loud, always disrupting the class, and she didn't really seem to care about being a ninja."

The Sand kunoichi looked at her curiously, noting that despite her words, Sakura's eyes were soft and she seemed almost fond of the blonde. "What happened?"

"It was all a mask," the pinkette shrugged. "When Sasuke and I formed a team with her, we started to discover many things about her that we never knew. She knew the Mizukage and his bodyguard, she was raised in a family outside of Konoha, the Naruko we knew in Academy was just a fake, and I'm sure there are more things we'll discover soon. But that's what I love about my team: we always have something new to experience together every day."

Sasuke smiled to himself. Unexpected, mini-adventures cropped up everywhere if you hung out with Naruko long enough. His days went by faster and were filled with colour and fun. It was almost scary how easy it was to forget about his revenge once he realized the logic in Naruko's words, and for the first time in a while, he allowed himself to be a child again.

"Did Naruko ever go..."

"Berserk?" Sasuke shook his head. "No. And I don't think that, like you, anyone in our generation understood why Naruko was so feared by the older generation. But things are different now. We don't fear her anymore. She's a person, just like you and me."

"Do you know what it was about Naruko that made the village fear her?" Temari asked carefully.

Sakura shook her head. "All we know is that some burden was placed on her. She never really talked about it, and we didn't feel it was our place to ask."

"But it doesn't matter," Sasuke said curtly. "Separation is nothing more than an illusion. We're all human, aren't we? We all feel love, pain, joy and sadness. We are one and the same."

Temari blinked, and exchanged a look with Kankuro. Maybe... just maybe, after this, they could try to spend more time with Gaara outside of training. After all, if Sakura and Sasuke were able to accept Naruko, who by all descriptions sounded like Gaara, then why couldn't they? And then, by some miracle, maybe they could start being a real family.

And Temari would be lying if she said that wasn't her lifelong dream.

* * *

With Team 7 and the Sand Siblings reunited, Team 7 quickly entered the building. The only reason they managed to get past the genjutsu that everyone else was stuck at was because their foxy blonde was trying to prove to Sasuke that it took no less than two hundred steps to get up to the double doors.

"One-ninety-seven, one-ninety-eight, one-ninety-nine... two hundred! I told you!" Naruko said triumphantly as she came to a stop right before Kakashi. "Less than two hundred steps."

Sasuke stared at her, hands in pockets. "You have way too much time on your hands," he sighed.

Kakashi chuckled at his team. "It's good to see you, Team 7. You can now officially register for the Chuunin Exams."

Sakura blinked. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth, this exam can only be taken in teams of three. It's unlikely, seeing how far you all have come, that two of you would force the other to take the exam with them. But there was always that possibility if I had told you beforehand."

"So what if only Sasuke and I came here?" Naruko tilted her head curiously.

Kakashi's voice lowered, "I would have prohibited the both of you from taking the exam and not allowed you through these doors. But since all three of you came here on your own free will..." His visible eye curved up into his signature eye-smile. "Well done. I'm proud of the three of you. You're my team." He took a few steps to the right, baring the double doors.

"Now, go."

"Alright, let's do this," Naruko grinned, grabbing both of her teammates' hands. Neither protested; Sasuke and Sakura pushed the double doors and, linked together, Team 7 entered.

"Whoa," Sakura couldn't stop the soft gasp when she saw the roomful of ninja, a majority being older than them, from varying villages. ' _There are so many people. Are they_ all _taking the exam?'_ She was suddenly jolted from her thoughts by a certain someone sneaking up behind her and throwing their arms around her neck.

"Sakura!" Ino cried happily. "You made it too! That's great, imagine how boring it would be if you were still a Genin and I was a Chuunin—"

Sakura shoved her best friend off her, smiling. "What are you talking about, Ino? It's Sasuke and Naruko, of course we're going to be in the Chuunin Exams."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Naruko smiled, "you're a vital part of the Team 7 dynamic." She turned to see the rest of Team 10 coming up to them, "Hey Shika, Choji."

"Are you three taking this troublesome exam too?" Shikamaru asked in his typical drawl, Choji munching on a bag of chips beside him.

"Ha! Found you all," a loud, familiar voice called over. "So I see that everyone is here."

Naruko smirked as she heard Sasuke groan softly under his breath. "Upside is that Hina-chan is on team too, Sasuke," she whispered.

"If it weren't for her and Aburame, I would kick that loud-mouthed idiot out of the room once he gets close enough," the Uchiha heir muttered. "All that _noise_ hurts my ears."

"Aw, you poor wittle sensitive Uchiha baby," Naruko cooed. "Can't even deal with a wittle bit of noise."

"Shut up," Sasuke rolled his eyes, unable to stop a smirk from shaping his mouth at the familiar banter. "Hinata," he greeted as Team 8 came closer, smiling slightly at the shy Hyuuga heiress.

"What? So you three made it too? Geez..." Shikamaru muttered.

Kiba smirked all around at the circle they had unintentionally formed. "I see, so all nine rookies this year are going to take the exam. How far do you think we can get... _Sasuke-kun?"_

Sasuke smirked right back at him. "You seem to be confident, Kiba."

"Gaara? And... Naruko? Naruko!"

The blonde's ears twitched at the faint voice and she looked up briefly, but was too distracted by Kiba's antics and therefore unable to identify the voice.

"Gaara, Naruko! Over—"

The blonde whirled around, eyes wide as the voice — and owner — finally registered. "FUU!" she squealed, practically launching across the room to tackle a petite girl with tan skin, short green hair and amber eyes.

Unfortunately, she and Gaara reached their missing "triplet" at the same time, and since Fuu was unable to bear their combined and unexpected weight at the same time, all three of them tumbled to the ground in a laughing heap.

Naruko rolled over Gaara and threw her arms around her sister. "I missed you so much, Fuu," she grinned at the green-haired kunoichi. "How's Taki?"

Fuu made a face, but smiled as Gaara helped her up. "Could be worse, I guess." She paused and looked behind her at the mischievously-grinning jinchuuriki that was wrapped around her like a monkey. "Am I supposed to piggyback you until the exam starts, or...?"

"Yep!" Naruko laughed. "You're not getting rid of me, _ever_."

Someone cleared their throat, and the three Genin turned to see the rest of the Rookie 9. Most of them wore expressions of amusement, curiosity, and still there were some who were looking apologetically at Fuu.

"Sorry," a boy with dark hair and equally dark eyes came up to the Taki kunoichi, trying to pry the blonde's grip from the girl. "Naruko's a little—" He gave a grunt as Naruko suddenly switched over to his back, legs clamped around his torso and arms wrapped around his neck. "Must you?" he sighed in resignation, even as he made no move to dislodge her.

"Yes," Naruko giggled. "Fuu, this is my teammate, Sasuke Uchiha."

"Nice to meet you, Sasuke," Fuu smiled, though she was trying not to laugh at the comical scene he and her sister were causing. "Um..."

"You get used to it," Sasuke assured her. Fuu snickered.

Naruko lightly swatted his head before jumping off to skip towards her siblings. "And that's my other teammate, Sakura Haruno." She pointed to a girl with pink hair and green eyes. "Oh, and this is Hinata Hyuuga. She was one of my first friends here," she grinned at a girl with short dark hair and pale eyes.

"Hey, what about us?" a boy with brown hair and red upside-down triangles on his cheeks, and a small white dog on his head, called playfully.

Naruko rolled her eyes, "Yes, right. Fuu, this is Hina-chan's teammate, Kiba Inuzuka. And yes, he is always this loud and obnoxious—"

"Hey!"

"—but he's perfectly balanced out by both Hina and Shino, who are his opposites," she continued cheerfully, amidst Fuu's giggles and Kiba's indignant protests.

"Hey, you might wanna quiet down," an older boy around the age of nineteen approached them. His ash-grey hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and black-rimmed circular glasses covered his onyx eyes. He was clad in a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white undershirt, and matching dark purple pants with a white cloth waistband.

Funny thing was, while he was wearing a Konoha forehead protector, not a single one of the Leaf Genin recognized him.

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi, and this is my seventh time taking the Chuunin Exams."

" _Seventh?"_ Kiba repeated incredulously. "You must suck, then— ow!" He grabbed the back of his head as Akamaru yipped indignantly at Sakura, who had been the one to punch him in the head.

"Be more polite!" she hissed.

"It's okay," Kabuto insisted with a weak laugh. "I wasn't ready."

Naruko's eyebrows twitched together; it was only for a moment, but it was enough for Fuu and Gaara immediately become wary of the man. One of the perks to being jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was that she could sense negative emotions. And the "Eyebrow Twitch", as Yagura had jokingly labelled it, was one of Naruko's signs when she sensed less-than-pure intentions. In short, when something was off about someone, Naruko's eyebrows would twitch together.

The unknown shinobi moved his eyes pointedly behind the Genin, and they all turned to where three irritated-looking shinobi were standing. "The ones behind you are from the Hidden Village of the Rain. They have short tempers. Everyone is tense since it's right before the exam. I warned you so that you won't get picked on."

Naruko's eyes flicked to Sasuke, who turned to look at her with a faint, quizzical look. She very slightly shook her head, _I don't trust him_.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, _Why not?_

The blonde subtly reached out to tug on Sakura's arm while maintaining eye contact with the dark-haired boy. _There's something off about him._

The pinkette glanced at her teammates. _What are we talking about?_

Sasuke subtly jerked his head at Naruko. _She doesn't trust this guy._

Sakura lifted her shoulders slightly. _Neither do I. He seems shady. I can't really explain it._

Naruko shot a triumphant look at Sasuke, who sighed but dipped his head slightly in assent.

"Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information, then..." Kabuto was saying when Team 7 finally tuned back in. He reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out orange strips of paper. "With these recognition cards."

"Recognition cards?" Ino repeated, eyeing the cards skeptically.

"In simple terms, it's a card that has information burned into it using my chakra," he answered, kneeling down to place the stack on the floor. "There's about two hundred in total." He took the card off the top and flipped it over as he placed it on the floor, leaving the white side facing the Genin. "It looks blank but..." He placed his finger on the card. "To get the information from this card—"

"What are you doing?" Fuu interrupted as he started to spin the card. She didn't like the sound of these cards. It sounded sketchy.

"It's made so that you can't view it without my chakra," Kabuto responded. "Like this." A small poof of smoke, and then the previously-blank card was suddenly a mini-map of the Five Great Nations, with opaque 3D green towers from every village. "It also has the number of participants from each Hidden Village." He looked up at the group, "Let me ask: why do you think we do the Chuunin Exam together?"

"To deepen the friendly relationships with the other countries, and to heighten the level of the ninja." Gaara answered instantly. At the looks he received, he shrugged. "Youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage here. You have to know it, no matter how tedious politics and diplomacy may be. And believe me, it's _tedious_."

"We believe you," Naruko said sympathetically, reaching over to pat his head.

"Well, that's what they say," the grey-haired male conceded. "But the real purpose is to confirm the level of the ninja in each adjacent country to try and balance out the power."

Naruko slightly raised an eyebrow at Gaara, who narrowed his eyes and subtly shook his head.

With another puff of smoke, the card became blank once more. "If they don't do that, the weak countries will be invaded and dominated by the strong ones. So they need to check and restrain each other's powers. It's just my guess, though."

The blonde glanced over at Sasuke, _He knows things he shouldn't. Another red flag._

Kabuto looked up around at them. "Is there someone that interests you?"

The Uchiha also had his eyes narrowed in thought, but nodded at Naruko to acknowledge that he understood. _I want to test something._

Naruko sighed through her nose. _Don't make me save your ass, teme._

 _You never do, dobe._ Ah, there was that cocky smirk she loved so much. Note the sarcasm.

"Yes," Sasuke immediately said in response to the shinobi's question. Although, it wasn't exactly like he needed Naruko's permission to begin with. More like he would _prefer_ to have it. Yep, that was it; just so she didn't wallop him afterwards.

"The information of this exam's examinees are not perfect, but I've burned and saved them." Kabuto picked up the stack and tapped it a few times against the floor. "They contain information about the eleven of you, as well."

Gaara, Fuu and Naruko instantly exchanged alarmed looks. Did he know they were jinchuuriki?

"Tell me whatever you know about the people you know that interest you. Names would be preferable."

"Gaara no Sabaku."

The Suna shinobi looked at Sasuke incredulously; he was going to ask for information on him while he was present? As in, right there? He glanced back at Naruko, who only shrugged. His incredulity furthered; what kind of people was his sister hanging out with? Seriously! Right in front of him! How _rude._

Kabuto also looked a little apprehensive as he noticed the redhead standing with them. But with the intent stare of the Uchiha survivor upon him, he had no other choice. Selecting a card from the stack, he held it aloft. "Here we go."

 _Trust me._ Sasuke's eyes flickered from Naruko and back to the shinobi. "Show me."

"Let's see. Gaara no Sabaku." The card started spinning, and with the customary puff of smoke, the previously blank card was filled with information.

Gaara stiffened slightly, and Fuu grabbed his hand reassuringly.

"Mission experience: eight C-ranks and... this is amazing. He did a B-rank mission as a Genin. He is a foreign ninja and it's his first time taking the exam, so I don't have any more information on him."

' _I should hope not!'_ Gaara thought, annoyed at how this shinobi had easily gotten information. It wasn't sensitive information, thankfully, but it was still information that he, as a supposed Leaf Genin, was not privy to and shouldn't have been able to obtain.

Fuu's keen amber eyes scanned the room, and then she asked, "What about the shinobi with the music note on their forehead protectors?"

Kabuto nodded as the Five Great Nations appeared on a blank card once more. "Konoha, Suna, Kiri, Ame, Kusa, Taki and Oto. This year, many talented Genin from these hidden villages have come here to take the exam. The Hidden Village of the Sound is a village of a small country that was made recently, so I don't have much information on them."

"I'm starting to lose confidence..." Hinata whispered nervously.

"It's too late to say that!" Ino snapped, and the Hyuuga heiress jumped at the sharp tone.

Naruko moved over to bump her shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "You'll be fine," she murmured. "You have Kiba and Shino with you. Worst comes to worst, the teme and I will jump in."

Sakura's frown deepened. "In other words, the examinees here are all..."

"That's right," Kabuto nodded. "It's not only Gaara. All the people here are the top elites chosen from each country."

"Is there anyone else here who feels like screaming out: "I'm not gonna lose to any of you"?" a certain blonde whispered to her teammates. Sasuke choked on air, and Sakura gently whacked her friend upside down the head.

"Good lanta," Sakura sighed, "I'm surrounded by morons."

In the ground, a hunchbacked male with bandages covering most of his face, except for his left eye, stared at the group. "Did you hear that?" he asked in a low voice. "They said that the Hidden Village of the Sound is a minor village of a small country. I'm _hurt_."

The female standing by him barely spared him a glance. "Let's play with them a little, then."

The hunchback nodded. "Yeah, they spoke as if we're just leftover ninja."

They flashed around the room, almost like shadows. Sensing something akin to danger, Gaara narrowed his eyes and glanced around. He saw Kankuro about to let his puppet down from his back in response to the Sound ninja and held out a warning hand. Kankuro shot him a look, but stopped.

One Sound ninja hurled two kunai at Kabuto, who swiftly dodged by skidding back. The one with bandages covering his face suddenly appeared in front of him, his right fist flying to make contact. At the last second, Kabuto leaned backwards so that the Sound ninja missed, a smirk upon his face.

The smug look only lasted a second as his glasses cracked and fell to the ground. "I see, so that's the kind of attack it was," he said calmly, taking off his broken glasses. Suddenly he collapsed to his knees and bent over, throwing up.

"He threw up!" Kiba gawked openly.

"Nice observation, genius," Fuu muttered under her breath.

"You're not as good as I thought for a veteran who took the exams four years running," the ninja who seemed to be the leader commented. "Write this in your card—"

He was cut off as a sharp voice bellowed; "Quiet down! You punks!" It didn't take long for the smoke to clear, and when it did, it revealed a tall man with a scarred face and — Ino was delighted to note — a majority of the T&I department behind him.

The man's scarred lip turned upward into a sadistic smirk. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Raising his voice, he announced, "I am the examiner of the first test of the Chuunin Selection Exam, Ibiki Morino. And from this moment... _your worst enemy._ "

"Dramatic much?" Naruko murmured from the side of her mouth.

"Shut up," Sakura hissed. "Don't make me laugh now!"

"First," Ibiki pointed a gloved finger at the back of the room, "you candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sound. Knock it off! Who told you that you could fight? You want to be failed before we've even begun?"

"Sorry," the leader said in a voice dripping with fake sincerity, "it's our first time. Guess we're just a little tense... _sir._ "

"Top 10 things Hashirama Senju said on his wedding night," Naruko snickered. Sakura threw her hands up in the air and buried her face in Sasuke's shoulder, groaning quietly. Sasuke himself was biting his lip so hard it bled in an effort to stop from making a sound. Trust Naruko to amuse them at the worst moment ever.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes. He scoffed before raising his voice once more. "I'll say this once, so listen up: there will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without the permission of a proctor. And even then, use of fatal force is strictly prohibited." He lowered his voice to a growl, "Anyone who even _thinks_ of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"

One either insanely brave or stupid Sound Ninja commented, "No fatal force? That's no fun."

Some of the T&I ninja snickered in pity for the fool, but Ibiki ignored him. "Now, if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chuunin Exam. Hand over your paperwork. In return you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

"The what?" Naruko said blankly.

"The written test," Sasuke repeated slowly, as if he were talking to a five-year-old.

"No, before that."

"The number?" Sakura tried.

"No, before that."

"The paperwork?" Fuu guessed.

"That," Naruko said simply. She turned to her teammates, "There was paperwork? Why did I not know about this?" Her eyes widened. "I don't have any paperwork to hand in!"

"Relax, Naru," Sakura giggled, patting her teammate's head. "I knew you would forget so I took the liberty of doing it for you." She gave a small gasp as the breath was knocked out of her when Naruko suddenly tackled her in a hug.

Ibiki was watching the back of the room closely, after what had happened when he first entered the room. He was pleased to note that the Yamanaka heiress was here. But when he saw the tell-tale flash of orange and yellow, he couldn't stop the small quirk of his lips. It seemed things were going to go a little differently than he anticipated, if his favourite junior interrogator was here.

* * *

Moments later, Naruko slammed her head down on the desk. ' _Man, I don't even know where the others are sitting. If I had known that there was going to be a written test, I would've studied!'_

 **"No, you wouldn't have."**

Naruko perked up. ' _Oh, hey Kurama. Enjoy your nap?'_

 **"Yes, thank you very much, Kit. So, what did I miss?"**

' _Um, I saw Gaara, Yagura, Utakata and Fuu_.'

 **"Huh. That's like, half your family, Kit. Now we just need Killer Bee, Yugito, Han and Roshi,"** Kurama snickered. Naruko hummed absent-mindedly, and the Bijuu softened. **"Naruko, are you... you're missing them even more now, aren't you?"** he said softly.

Naruko sighed mentally. ' _Seeing the people that called themselves my triplets made it all just come rushing back. I'd give anything to have another one of okaa-san's hugs... or Roshi-jiji's lame jokes. But of course, I am extremely grateful that I can even see Yagura, Utakata, Gaara and Fuu again._ '

"Naruko, pay attention."

Naruko looked over at her right, and grinned when she saw Hinata smiling amusedly at her. ' _Yes, I'm not alone!'_ The blonde whispered a quick "good luck" before Ibiki slammed the chalk on the blackboard behind him.

"Alright everyone, eyes to the front. There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I won't answer any questions, so you better pay attention in the first time around." He turned around to write on the blackboard. "Rule #1 is this: the written part of the exam is conducted on a point-reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. So if you miss three, your final score will be seven." Ibiki scanned the room to make sure they were all listening before continuing. "Rule #2: teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members."

There was a slam, and Naruko didn't even need to turn to know that Sakura had slammed her head on the desk. Even if Naruko had been faking a majority of the Academy, it didn't mean she found studying easy. She found it really hard, in fact, and Kurama had to essentially tutor her in everything.

Ibiki coughed; he might as well go on since the girl hadn't actually protested out loud. "Rule #3: the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp. And if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here."

"I've got my eye on you~" a sentinel Naruko instantly recognized as Kotetsu sang teasingly.

"If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be. One more thing: if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then _the entire team fails_."

' _Oh sh-t,_ ' was the one thought that ran through Team 7's minds.

"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have on hour, total."

One second passed by... two... three... and then four.

"BEGIN!"

The room was instantly filled with papers flipping over and pencils scratching. Ibiki smirked; he could practically hear the gears turning frantically in their minds.

Naruko quickly wrote down her name, then closed her eyes and began to meditate. Kurama would be able to help her, yes, but she wanted to try something else, too.

Sasuke glanced up, biting the soft inner flesh of his cheek in worry. ' _Oh man, this doesn't look good. She's just sitting there_.' He was familiar with Naruko's academic performance; their whole class was. To find out that a majority of it had been an act was shocking, yes, but it didn't mean she was suddenly as knowledgeable as Sakura.

' _These are integrated problems based on principles of uncertainty and require complex mechanical energy analysis. Incredibly advanced stuff,_ ' Sakura mused to herself before her eyes widened. ' _Forget it; Naruko doesn't stand a chance of solving these!_ _In fact, it can't be more than a handful of people here besides me who can even understand it. Each problem is more difficult than the one before._ '

She was correct, as a majority of the room were simply staring at empty sheets of paper in full-on confusion and incomprehension.

Sasuke put down his paper with a smirk. ' _Well that's interesting... I can't begin to understand a single one of these problems._ '

Sakura took a deep breath as she felt a smirk curl her own lip as she exchanged a look with the green-haired Taki kunoichi she met mere moments ago. She winked at the pinkette, and then turned to her own paper. Sakura almost felt like laughing out loud; she liked Naruko's "sister". ' _Well, if Naruko's anything like Fuu, she won't fall for it. Come on you sly little fox, show me my faith isn't misplaced_.'

Sasuke glanced around the room at the sentinels. ' _They make a bigger deal out of cheating than the test itself. And these sentinels... watching our every move... trying to catch one—_ ' The boy's face dropped as he watched the shinobi write something on his pad. ' _Someone just got busted_.' A smirk crept across his face. ' _I bet it was Gaara_.' He quickly shook his head of the thought, if he was going to pass, he needed a clear mind. His eyes widened as he realized the real purpose of the test. His eyes instantly shot to Naruko; ' _Come on, Naruko... use your head! Figure this out before it's too late!'_ He snuck a glance at his other teammate, who was busily writing answers. The Uchiha felt like slamming his head onto the desk; figures Sakura would know the answers without having to cheat.

Naruko sighed. She could literally feeling her teammates burning holes into her back. Seriously, she wasn't _that_ bad at written tests—

 **"Oh yes you are."**

' _Shut it, foxy._ '

 **"You're just lucky you have a thousand-year-old demon inside of you who actually knows how to do these sorts of things and can help you cheat."**

' _Yeah, how_ do _you know how to do that anyway?'_

 **"You live a thousand years, you pick up stuff."**

' _Uh-huh..._ '

 **"Also, you get insanely bored."**

' _There we go._ '

 **"I know I said I could help you cheat... but I haven't. And you haven't written anything down. Should I be worried?"**

' _No._ '

 **"May I ask why?"**

' _Because I am superior._ '

Naruko smirked as she heard Kurama splutter in shock. **"You're not answering any — not a single one — of the questions because you are "superior"? Kit, are you _insane?_ You're quite literally jeopardizing you and your team's chance of making Chuunin!"**

Naruko rolled her eyes. ' _Oh please. As if you didn't see right through his deception._ '

 **"..."**

' _I may not be book-smart, but I am pretty good at solving riddles and at reading body language_. _Did you honestly think I'd forget all of Ibiki's and everyone else's teachings?'_

Once Kakashi had taken Naruko in, he had started appearing less and less around his comrades. Naturally, they — meaning Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Yugao, Hayate, Genma and Anko — had shown up at the one-eyed Jonin's apartment to check on Kakashi. And imagine their surprise when they found a ten-year-old Naruko Uzumaki living there. Many a time, when Kakashi's missions had him out of the village for a week or two, Naruko was left in the care of at least one of the Jonin or ANBU. Sometimes she was at the T&I, sometimes at the ANBU HQ, or she was in someone's apartment. She went wherever she pleased, and none of them minded. Ibiki had noticed her aptitude for manipulating shinobi into telling the truth; after all, no one would suspect that a young, fragile child like Naruko could possibly be an interrogator. And with a few honeyed words and implied promise of release, the truth would come spilling out.

 **"Mm, I suppose not,"** Kurama answered begrudgingly. **"Anyway, how do you think Fuu and Gaara are going?"**

' _Well, I just felt some sand drop onto my head so I'm going to yell at Gaara for being sloppy later. And as for Fuu, either she's using Chomei or she's using her sticky strings in a similar to way to Shika's Shadow Possession._'

Kurama snickered in her head. **"Good luck washing that out."**

' _Supportive much?'_

 **"Oh, you know you're my favourite host."**

' _Yes, because I'm the only one who took the time and effort to transform the sewage into a field that you can jump around in and sleep in all day,_ ' Naruko responded dryly.

 **"Your efforts are much appreciated."**

' _Are they though? We haven't started working on Bijuu Mode yet, and I'm rather disappointed_.'

 **"..."**

' _What? What's wrong?'_

 **"U-Um, nothing."**

' _Kurama..._ '

 **"I swear it's nothing!"**

* * *

Naruko felt something poking her side repeatedly, so she tuned back into the real world to see her dark-haired friend look at her worriedly. Hinata motioned to her empty written test, but the blonde shrugged dismissively.

The room had emptied considerably since she had been talking with Kurama. What in the world had happened during that conversation? Of course, Naruko knew that it took time just to be able to connect to Kurama on the level that she had just then — to connect at a greater depth with her Bijuu was part of her training for Bijuu Mode — but it was still surprising how many were disqualified.

Ibiki then stepped up, "These rules are unique to Question 10. Listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you." When no one moved, he nodded to himself. "Very well then. Rule #1: each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."

Naruko's eyebrows hit her hairline. Her thoughts — and probably everyone else's — were voiced by the loud blonde in the back.

"So what's the catch? Say we choose not to take it, what happens next?"

Gaara almost slammed his face onto his desk when he realized it was his biological older sister speaking.

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, then regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words: you fail. And that means, of course, that both your teammates fail as well."

Murmurs immediately broke out in the room, varying from " _no way_ " to " _of course we'll do it_ ".

"Not so fast," Ibiki said quietly. "You didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail... you will be barred from taking the Chuunin Exam ever again!"

"Hey that's bull, man!" Kiba shouted, leaping to his feet. The rest of the Rookie 9 almost fell off their chairs in second-hand embarrassment. "That's ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that? There's lots of people here who've taken the test before!" Akamaru emphasized this with three short barks.

Naruko gripped the edge of her desk, grinding her teeth together. "I — am going — to — _murder_ — and _castrate_ — and _disembowel_ — that — idiot!" she ground out.

 **' _Ah, the perks of having grown up around one of the most feared interrogators in the Five Great Nations,_ '** Kurama thought wryly.

Hinata sweatdropped, "There, there..." she tried half-heartedly to placate her friend who was leaking a dangerous aura.

Ibiki almost smirked proudly when he saw the girl with whiskers and bright blonde hair exuding an aura that was very familiar to him; that of the Red Hot Habanero. In fact, if he looked close enough, he could see her hair starting to float upwards in a similar fashion to Kushina's long, red hair.

From the back of the room, Fuu groaned and plopped her cheek into her right palm with an affectionate smile. "Mamma mia, here we go again."

Ibiki looked back up at the Inuzuka, and growled, "I guess you're just... _unlucky_. I wasn't making the rules before. But I am now. Of course, if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year." He scanned the room once more, taking note of the twelve Genin caught his eye; all from his own village. And they had an identical fierce determination. Or as Sandaime-sama called it: _The Will of Fire._

"Now then, if you're ready, the tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded, and then you're free to go."

The boy next to Naruko raised his hand. "I'm out," he stood up, his voice shaky. "That's it; I'm out. I just can't do it. I'm sorry."

"Number 50: Fail," one of the sentinels — Izumo — announced. "Number 130, Number 110. That means you're out, too."

"Ginai... Inaho... I'm sorry," Number 50 apologized as his teammates stood up.

"That's it; I quit!"

"Me too, sir!"

"I'm out."

"Me too."

"I'm so sick of this."

"Yeah, I'm out."

As the Konoha 12, the Sand Siblings and the Taki Team watched, people were raising hands and standing up and quitting right and left.

"To be honest, I really don't care if I can't make it past Genin."

Ibiki raised a scarred eyebrow. The maggot actually had the audacity to stretch and act as if she had just woken up from a catnap. She didn't even seem all that concerned that she was facing the possibility of never getting promoted. Although, it figured that she would see right through him.

"Don't underestimate us, Ibiki," Naruko smirked. "I would've thought you learned that by now." She tilted her head innocently, though the sly smile on her face washed away any innocence she had as she leaned forward almost challengingly. "I don't quit and I don't run."

"This decision could change your entire life," Ibiki said sternly. "If for any reason you choose to quit, now is your last chance."

Naruko smirked, meeting his gaze head-on. "I never go back on my word. That's my ninja way."

Cerulean met obsidian in an intense staring match between her and the interrogator, a deathly silence blanketing the room. Suddenly, Naruko relaxed and leaned back into her seat. "Besides," she shrugged, "if you don't try new things, you'll never know what you're missing out on." She paused as a strange expression stole across her whiskered face. "Where did I hear _that_ from...?"

Snickering from three rows behind her and to her left caused Naruko to slam her head on her desk, startling those near her from the force she had used. "Oh _no_... he was right," Naruko groaned.

"Who was?" Sakura asked in slight confusion.

"Uh, you don't—"

"You're damn right I was right!" Gaara called from his seat, still snickering as he interrupted the blonde fox mid-sentence.

Naruko turned in her seat to glare at the redhead. "You and I are going to have words when this exam lets out," she said simply. She quickly whirled around to glare the cynophilist, "You too, Kiba!"

"What?" Kiba squawked indignantly. "What did _I_ do?"

"' _That's bull_ '? ' _That's a bogus rule_ '?" Naruko's voice rose with every word. "Are you _insane?_ He's the proctor of our exam! Do you _want_ to get kicked out? You could've jeopardized your team's chances in this exam! You're lucky he didn't kick you out, but once we're out of here _I'm_ kicking _your_ ass, Kiba Inuzuka!"

"Wow," Fuu mused, "she hasn't changed a bit."

Sakura looked at the girl beside her, "How so?" she asked curiously.

The green-haired girl chuckled. "Well, she still has that famous fiery temper of hers, though she appears to have grown some restraint." A slightly vacant look entered her amber eyes. "Naruko was always the one to separate the fights; whether it was me and Gaara, or Yagura and Utakata."

"Really now..." Sakura looked over at her teammate, who was still scolding the now-abashed Inuzuka from across the room. She caught Sasuke's eye, and the Uchiha smirked in amusement.

Ibiki cleared his throat. "Last call for anyone who wants to call it quits." Everyone remaining in the room stayed quiet, and Ibiki couldn't help but be impressed. ' _Remarkable... the maggot's words have given the others some backbone. She's inspired them into staying._ ' Ibiki sighed through his nose, closing his eyes briefly. ' _Seventy-eight left. More than I expected. Figures_ she _would destroy all my plans. I'll be hearing about this from Anko for_ days.' He glanced at the sentinels, all who were either smirking or smiling. At their nods, he turned back to the Chuunin-hopefuls.

"Well then, I admire your determination," Ibiki declared. "For those of you remaining, there is only one thing left to do. And that's for me to tell you... that you've all passed the first exam!"

"Called it!" Naruko grinned, throwing down her pencil with flourish. "Anko owes me fifty bucks by the way. Thanks, Ibiki."

The head interrogator pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stop gambling," he ordered, "or I may have to forbid you two from hanging out together."

Naruko gasped, hands flying to her chest. "You wouldn't!" she cried, scandalized.

Ibiki's eyes gleamed. "Making fun of me, are you?" He smirked as he strode over in three quick strides and plucked the girl from her seat before stalking over to the window. "Have fun!" And with that, he tossed her out the window.

Alarmed cries and the screech of chairs being pushed back abruptly instantly filled the room.

"How could you do that?!"

"She's just a child!"

"I'm pretty sure he just broke a law or two."

"Oh calm down," Ibiki scoffed, walking back to his place at the front of the room. "She's small, but resilient." Leaning on the table, he called out, "You alive?"

Not a second later, the windows broke as two kunai were thrown into the ceiling and a large black cloth was flung out. From behind the black material, Ibiki sighed in resigned exasperation. ' _Jumped the gun... as usual._ '

"Heads up boys and girls!" a cocky female voice announced. "This is no time to be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. Ready for the second test?" She threw her fist up in the air, yelling with more enthusiasm and volume than necessary, "Good! Then follow m— _ow!"_

"You're early. Again," Ibiki growled as he half-stepped out from behind the crudely-made banner. Anko deflated, her cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment. Standing next to her, hands on hips, was a righteously-indignant Naruko.

" _You!"_ she thrust a finger in Ibiki's scarred face. "What do you think you were doing? Throwing me out the window like that! You're just lucky Anko was there to catch me and give me a ride back up. And _you_ ," she whirled on the purple-haired kunoichi, "I told you it was too early! But _nooooooo,_ let's not listen to Naruko!"

"Alright, maggot, we got it," Anko said in amusement, patting the blonde head. "Ibiki, placate her so I can continue my dramatic entrance," she smiled sweetly. Ibiki silently raised an eyebrow before lifting the blonde into the air and setting her on his shoulder; she barely weighed more than she did when she was eleven.

"How many _are_ there?" Anko asked in bewilderment, taking in the amount of Chuunin-hopefuls in the room. "Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft," she commented snarkily.

"Or it could be a stronger group of candidates this year," Ibiki responded calmly.

"Nah, I think it was me," Naruko chirped.

"Yeah, I think it was her," Anko laughed. "'Cause they sure don't look it. Trust me, before I'm done with them, more than half of them will be eliminated."

Sakura jerked a little at the way she spoke and worded her sentence. "M-More than half?" she muttered under her breath.

"Huh, this'll be fun," Anko said softly to herself before her grin widened. "Alright maggots, you've had it easy so far! But things will be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders let you know where to meet me. Dismissed."

* * *

 **OMAKE:**

As the shinobi filtered out the room, the Rookie 9, Gaara and Fuu lingered behind.

Ibiki set Naruko down on the ground, and instantly started firing questions at her. "What was that? Are you deliberately trying to sabotage me? Giving them that little speech? Did you have to ruin things for me? Do you know how long Anko is going to hold this over my head? And because of you, I didn't get to give them a single part of that little spiel I had planned about risks and whatnot."

"Yes, because we _all_ know what a _joy_ that is to listen to," Naruko nodded her head sagely.

Ibiki gently swatted at her. "No sarcasm with me, young lady. Now run along with your friends."

"Yes sir," Naruko grinned. "But first," she turned to Anko, "pay up."

Anko groaned; "You just _had_ to be predictable, didn't you Ibiki?" She pulled out a note and slammed it into the small hand. "Alright, but this'll be the last time you win, ya hear me? I plan on winning those fifty bucks back."

"Sure," Naruko smirked, "after all, your luck's as bad as Tsunade Senju's." Immediately, she took off running towards her friends, ignoring the roar of, " _WHY YOU BRAT—_ " echoing behind her. Grabbing Fuu's hand, Naruko dashed through the doors, waving the money in the air. "Come on guys, free ramen! It's on Anko!"

"BRAT! DON'T SPEND MY HARD-EARNED MONEY ON THAT DESPICABLE FOOD!"

* * *

 **(1) Naruto first aired 3rd October 2002, however the first episode of the Chuunin Exam Arc aired in 2003. Sasuke was 7 when the Uchiha Massacre occurred, and they're all 13 now, so going by my justification it would've happened around 1997**


	10. Chuunin Exams: Phase 2

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **So I wrote this 17,937-word chapter yesterday until 3:30 AM. Had to sleep so couldn't proofread it, but at least now you get a super long chapter :)**

 **P.S. I almost cried at the amount of episodes I have to go through just to finish the Chuunin Exam AND Konoha Crush Arcs (TT^TT)**

* * *

True to her word, Naruko Uzumaki kicked Kiba Inuzuka's ass shortly after she was done with her three ramen bowls; her treat for having passed the first phase of the Chuunin Exams. It was technically Anko's treat, given the meal was paid for by the money Naruko won with the bet, but it wasn't like any of them were complaining.

At this point in time, the remaining Chuunin-hopefuls were gathered outside a massive looming forest, with all that separated them being a high, barbed wire fence. A few were looking eagerly at the entrances, while some were apprehensive and others — like Shikamaru — couldn't care less.

"There's something creepy about this place," Sakura winced.

Anko, having overheard the pinkette, chuckled. "This place is called the Forest of Death. You'll soon realize why— _yowch!"_ The Jonin glared at the blonde who was frowning at her. Anko raised a finger to touch the cut from the kunai that had grazed her cheek, courtesy of Naruko. "Alright, I won't freak them out..." she added under her breath, " _too much._ "

Of course Naruko heard it with her exceptional hearing thanks to Kurama, but she chose to let it go. It actually was kind of amusing watching everyone squirm. Damn; Kurama, Anko or Ibiki. One of them had been influencing her too much. She rolled her eyes. "What?" Naruko asked at the looks of incredulity that were thrown her way. Her teammates sighed in unison, shaking their heads. Gaara facepalmed and Fuu tried not to laugh.

"Well, before we start the second exam, I have to pass this out to you." The proctor reached into her trench coat to pull out a stack of papers. "It's a consent form. Before you take part in the test, you have to sign this."

"Why?" some oblivious Genin called out.

Anko smirked. "From here on out, corpses are going to come out. I have to get your consent on that... or else it will be my responsibility."

"As if," Naruko called out. "You're _never_ responsible, Anko."

"Watch it, maggot, or I might just throw you into that forest myself before we even start," the Jonin snapped back with a gleam in her eye. Naruko grinned, waving the threat off. Anko cleared her throat. "Well, I'm going to start the explanation for the second exam. In a nutshell, the limits of your survival will be challenged." As she spoke, she extended the stack of papers to Naruko, who took them and handed them to the next person.

"First, I'll give you a step-by-step instruction on the terrain of this Training Ground. The forty-fourth Training Ground is surrounded by forty-four locked entrance gates. There are rivers and a forest, and a locked tower in the middle. It's about 10 kilometers from the gates to the tower. In this confined area, you will go through a certain survival program." A smirk curled Anko's mouth. "The contents of which are..." She tucked the map back into her trench coat. "An anything-goes scroll battle!" She held two scrolls aloft; one was black and one was white.

"Scroll...?" Kabuto repeated, confused.

"Yes," Anko nodded, showing the kanji on each scroll. "I want you to fight for two scrolls, the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll. Altogether, thirteen teams got through the first test. Half of them get the Heaven Scroll, the other half get the Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team. To put it simply, that's what you're vying for."

"What are the conditions to pass?" Sasuke asked stoically.

"Three of you bring both the Heaven and the Earth scrolls to the tower in the center."

"That means that of the thirteen teams, half of them will fail for sure," Sakura said with a frown. Naruko narrowed her eyes at the look in Anko's eyes, and sure enough, there was a catch.

"Except it has to be in time. For this second exam, the time limit is 120 hours. Do it in exactly five days."

"Five days?" Ino exclaimed, instantly followed by a "What do we do about food?" Predictably, it was Choji Akimichi who made that particular last inquiry.

"Be self-sufficient!" Anko said sharply. "It's a treasure trove in the wilderness. There's more than enough for food."

"However," Kabuto said, "it's teeming with fierce people-eating animals, poison bugs, poisonous weeds and much more."

"No way..." Choji whimpered.

"Fool, that's why it's called survival!" Ino hissed at her teammate and childhood friend.

"Besides, it's improbable that thirty-nine people, thirteen teams, will pass," spoke up a stoic boy who vaguely resembled Hinata. Naruko idly wondered if this was the "Neji-nii-san" the Hyuuga heiress had mentioned the first day they spoke.

"The interval for activity gets longer with each passing day, while the time for recovery gets shorter..." A grin broke out on the assumed-Hyuuga's teammate's face. "How grueling!"

Naruko raised an eyebrow; he was dressed in a green unitard and his hairstyle resembled that of a shiny bowl. His eyebrows were really thick, too. Who did he remind her of? It was on the tip of her tongue...

"On top of that," Sasuke mused aloud, "you're surrounded by nothing but enemies. Even falling asleep will be a problem."

"And, besides those who are injured during attempts to capture the scroll, there will definitely be people unable to endure the rigors of the course."

Shikamaru raised his hand. "So can you quit in the middle of it?"

"According to the rules, you cannot give up in the middle of it!" Anko responded. ' _Typical Nara._ ' She smiled an obviously-fake, sweet smile at him, "I want you to spend five days in the forest."

"Just like I thought," Shikamaru grumbled under his breath, Choji munching on a bag of potato chips he pulled out of nowhere acting as background noise. "This is going to be a pain."

Anko smirked at the InoShikaCho, and then turned her attention back to the majority. "Moving on; conditions of disqualifications." She held up a finger, "Number 1: if all three members of the team can't make it to the tower with the Heaven and the Earth scrolls within the time limit."

"She sounds like she's on the verge of yawning," Naruko muttered in amusement, earning a pinch on the cheek from her pinkette teammate for an inappropriate comment — yet again — at an inappropriate time — yet again.

"Number 2: if a team loses a member or if a member becomes incapacitated. There's that, and this is a supplement," Anko seemed to perk up a bit at this, "absolutely do not look at the contents of the scrolls until you've reached the tower."

"What happens if we look at it halfway through?" Fuu asked curiously.

"When you look at it, you'll find out," Anko winked. "There are times when Chuunin must deal with super-secret texts. This is to test your reliability. That's all for the explanation. I'll exchange your three consent forms for the scrolls in that hut over there." She pointed to the right. "After that, pick your entrance, and all gates will open simultaneously." All Genin looked from the hut and then back at her. Anko heaved a large sigh. "Finally, a word of advice... don't die!"

"Terrible advice!" Naruko called out.

"Shut it, maggot!"

Snickering, Naruko grabbed her teammates and ran off. The group also dispersed into their own teams, either to talk strategy or to soothe nerves. Sasuke was watching the hut their proctor had pointed out earlier, and noticed two shinobi drawing a curtain over it.

' _I see, so you won't know which scroll is given to which team, and you won't know which of the three people are carrying the scroll._ ' He glanced down at the consent form. ' _There will probably be life or death struggles in this particular test. Everyone is an enemy._ ' He discreetly looked around to scan the competition. ' _The resolve of everyone here is strong. And that means it might come to killing each other._ ' The Uchiha glanced at his teammates; Sakura was being true to her motherly nature and scolding Naruko for being rude, while the blonde was only making an effort to listen because of the mutual love and respect they had for each other. Watching them, Sasuke silently marveled at how quickly he had grown used to their constant presence; he had initially thought having a team would only slow him down and be a hindrance. But they had proved him wrong. Their friendship was now invaluable to him, and Sasuke couldn't think of anything that could ever come between the three of them. Because that's what they had all signed up for the day they graduated as Genin; to have each other's backs as a three-man-team. And it was for that very reason that Sasuke silently swore to himself that he wouldn't let any harm come to either one of his teammates during this particular stage. He would protect them.

Anko was "patrolling"; checking out the candidates. ' _It looks like they understand the meaning of the consent form a little bit..._ ' She saw the maggot with her team, and smirked at the look on the Uchiha's face. ' _She doesn't necessarily need the protection, but you better do you damned hardest anyway, Uchiha._ '

The curtain was drawn back from the hut, and a Leaf shinobi announced, "It's about time for the scroll exchange."

One by one, teams entered the hut to receive their scrolls. Anko watched them from afar. ' _Well, I wonder how many teams will survive..._ ' She checked her watch, and then called loudly, "Teams who have taken a scroll, stay with the representative and move to the gate. We'll all start in thirty minutes!"

"Naruko," Sasuke hissed, "have you been here before?" At the blonde's nod, he pressed, "Well? Which gate should we head for?"

Naruko looked around at the available gates. Team 8 had taken Gate 16, and from here she could hear Kiba shouting something about how survival was their forte. Team 10 had taken Gate 27, and the blonde could only imagine Shikamaru's typical comments on how it was "troublesome" or "a drag". The violent Oto team had taken Gate 20, Kabuto's team had taken Gate 38, Gaara had chosen Gate 6 — she was a little sad to note that his teammates seemed to be a little wary of him — and Fuu's team had taken Gate 15. The older Hyuuga's team had chosen Gate 41, and none of them seemed all that concerned. The blonde narrowed her eyes at a particular Kusa team that had sat down by Gate 34. There was something off about them, kind of similar to Kabuto.

"Gate 12," Naruko said at last, and Team 7 made their way over.

After what seemed like a millennia, Anko's voice rang out. "We now start the second phase of the Chuunin Exams!"

The gates banged open, and teams rushed in. Not even five minutes to the exam, screams were already echoing through the forest. "They've started already?" Sakura bit her lip anxiously.

Naruko didn't even spare a glance back. "I'm betting someone either set off Konoha's infamous Flying Leeches, Gaara's caught someone in his Sand Coffin, or..." she shrugged. "That's all I've got."

 **"Kit."**

Naruko paused. ' _What is it, Kurama?'_

 **"How much do you think I'm allowed to help?"**

' _What do you mean?'_

 **"You know how we were working on summoning me out as a miniature fox a few weeks ago just for kicks? I think you should do it now."**

' _What? How will that help us?'_

 **"Well for one, I can get in touch with Shukaku and Chomei easier. Plus it'd be good practice for you, and it's less suspicious if there's a massive fox in the forest than in a village."**

' _True. But Sakura and Sasuke—_ '

 **"Go behind a tree and say you need to pee or something."**

Naruko's eye twitched. "Gotta go," she called to her teammates before quickly scaling a tree and disappearing into the canopy above.

"Wait, Naruko!" Sakura called in alarm. "Damn that impulsive girl..."

Naruko winced, knowing she would be hearing about this later from both her teammates. Even after making sure she truly was alone, Kurama cast a minor genjutsu to make it look like she was doing her business. Naruko refused to believe it was a precaution; if she knew her tenant — and she did — then he was doing it just to get a kick out of it.

Biting the pad of her thumb, Naruko reached deep within herself to find the reserves of the Bijuu Chakra. Tugging gently on it, she channeled it the same way one would channel normal chakra in order to summon their contracted animal.

With a small poof, an eight-tailed fox appeared. He had orange fur and black fur around its eyes that stretched to its bunny-like ears, red irises with black slits for pupils. For some reason, when Naruko summoned Kurama outside of her body, he only had eight tails. The Bijuu supposed it was because there had to be some part of him left in there, even if he was currently a hundredth of his usual size. With practice, Kurama had found himself able to shift between the size of a fox cub and that of an adult large-breed dog. **(1)**

"So? What's the plan?" Naruko asked, kneeling down to Kurama's height. He was currently in his fox cub size, which meant he was roughly Akamaru's size.

 **"The plan,"** Kurama started, **"is for you to get back to your teammates, otherwise you'll never find them again in this forest. If they have any brain cells, they should be waiting for you. I will go and find Gaara or Fuu — whichever one comes first — and I'll contact their Bijuu and check on how they're doing as well was what scrolls they have. If you're lucky, they may agree to get an extra scroll just in case you don't."**

Naruko raised an eyebrow. "Doubting Team 7's skills, are you?"

Kurama snorted. **"No, I'm creating a safety net for you to fall back onto. Be glad I'm even doing this, Kit!"**

The blonde giggled. "Of course. Wish them good luck for me."

Kurama nodded. **"Of course. We should still be able to communicate with each other given that I'm not exactly completely out of you. If you can't, don't panic. Just summon me back and then we'll work something out."**

Naruko nodded again and leaned down to press a chaste kiss to the fox's head before heading back to her team. The Bijuu scoffed, knowing how useless it was to yell at his host for doing such a thing to him, a thousand-year-old demon. Naruko never listened. And truthfully... Kurama liked it. It's just that he had an image to maintain.

Shaking his head, Kurama stretched his senses. Ah, Shukaku was closer. He would start with the male of the "triplets".

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura waited patiently for their teammate to return when there was a rustle of leaves and someone suddenly landed behind them.

"Hey guys!"

"Naruko, don't—" Sakura started, but was interrupted when Sasuke suddenly launched himself at the blonde with a punch to the face, sending her crashing into a tree. "S-Sasuke!" the pinkette exclaimed in shock. "What are you—"

"What was that for?" Naruko groaned, eyeing Sasuke warily as she rubbed her cheek. Her eyes widened as she quickly dodged out of the way of Sasuke's kick. She quickly escaped up to a tree branch, but dropped when Sasuke swung up behind her and kicked her back. Naruko was sent crashing to the ground, and struggled to get back up to her feet. "What are you doing... all of a sudden?" she croaked out.

"That should be my line," Sasuke growled, pulling out a kunai.

"It can't be helped," Naruko muttered as she pulled out her own kunai and lunged to meet her teammate halfway. She matched him strike for strike before flipping a few feet away.

Sakura had been watching them closely, and then a realization dawned on her. "Sasuke, is that—"

"That's not Naruko," Sasuke confirmed, slowly inching closer to his remaining teammate with a kunai held in a defensive position. "Talk!" he called. "Where's the real Naruko?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" 'Naruko' answered, though she seemed guarded — too guarded for someone with her teammates.

"Your kunai holster is on your left leg. Naruko's right-handed," Sasuke pointed out. "You're worse at transformation than Naruko was in the Academy."

There was a puff of smoke and 'Naruko' was revealed to be an Ame ninja. "Unlucky me! You got me in that case. Which one of you got the scroll?" Neither Genin answered; Sasuke merely held the kunai tighter as Sakura whipped out a kunai of her own. "If you listen to me obediently, I'll spare your lives." When silence was all that answered him, the Ame ninja seemed to grin maliciously under his mask. "I see. Then I'll resort to force!"

Sasuke immediately launched himself into the air, already weaving handsigns. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" He fired multiple balls of fire at the Ame ninja, who dodged them all by joining Sasuke mid-air, causing them to clash blades.

There was a strange whipping sound, but it was quickly forgotten as a barrage of kunai headed for the young Uchiha. Sasuke managed to duck behind a bough in time, but his eyes widened as he saw a familiar tag that his seal-obsessed teammate used all too often. "Paper bomb!"

He dropped to the ground just as it exploded, but stiffened at the presence behind him. "This is lucky!" the Ame ninja exclaimed gleefully, his kunai against the boy's jugular. "I'll kill you if you move! Calmly hand over the scroll."

Then that strange whipping sound came again, louder this time, and Sasuke's attacker let out a startled shout. He turned just in time to see the man disappear into the tree branches. Sasuke's jaw dropped as he saw a familiar golden glow peering through the leaf foliage. The ninja came crashing down again — he went up and down, up and down until there were craters everywhere and the man was finally knocked out.

Naruko dropped calmly from the branches as the golden chains receded into her back. "Don't worry, he's not dead," the Uzumaki reassured him.

Sasuke blinked. "Um... what was that? I remember seeing that on the mission to Wave, but—"

"Adamantine Sealing Chains," Naruko answered softly. "It's an Uzumaki bloodline limit. A... friend helped me unlock and gain control of it when I was young. Quite handy, if you ask me."

Sasuke turned to the knocked out ninja. "What do we do with him?"

Naruko frowned. ' _It really would be nice to have Fuu right now. She could stick him to the tree and make it so that it only dissolves after five days._ ' She heaved a sigh as a depressive cloud appeared over her head, causing her teammates to exchange exasperated looks. ' _I miss my sister._ '

* * *

"S-So, Gaara... how do you know—"

"Shut up, Kankuro."

The boy sweatdropped. "Y-Yes Gaara."

"No," Gaara quietly groaned, frustrated with himself. "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant... listen." The Sand Siblings were quiet for a moment, and then Gaara flicked his wrist. A tendril of sand snaked around a tree, and when it came back, an eight-tailed fox was in its clutches.

"A fox?" Temari blinked. "Konoha has foxes with eight tails?"

Gaara ignored her. He knew this fox. There was something familiar about him... but what?

 **"Cub, that's Kurama." (2)**

Gaara's eyes widened, and he quickly took the fox from his sand. He was a little unsure on how to hold him, but Kurama seemed to sense his uncertainty and jumped onto his shoulder. ' _C-Can you hear me, Kurama?'_ the redhead tried, unsure if he should be speaking mentally or aloud.

 **"Loud and clear, Gaa-chan."**

Gaara could practically hear the smug smirk in the Bijuu's voice. He rolled his eyes. ' _Did Naruko send you?'_

 **"I'm here to check up on you, and to ask if you can get an extra Earth scroll if possible."**

' _So Team 7 has the Heaven scroll,_ ' Gaara mused. ' _Alright, we'll keep a lookout for it. We have a Earth Scroll ourselves, so it's not like we'd need it_. _As for how we're going... well, we haven't run into trouble yet. It shouldn't be anything Shukaku and I can't handle, though. Shukaku's protective tendencies appear to have built up quite a reputation for me in Suna..._ ' The poor jinchuuriki sweatdropped at the mere thought of it.

 **"Thanks."** Kurama reached up to quickly press his cold nose against Gaara's cheek in a rare show of affection, before bounding off the boy. **"I'm headed to find Fuu. Naruko and I wish you good luck."**

' _The same to her. Safe travels, Kurama_.'

* * *

She shot a glance at her teammates but they appeared to be frozen in fear. Naruko quickly focused on the task at hand, searching for that little bit of— aha!

 **"Kit?"** Kurama sounded a little disoriented. **"What's— WHOA! IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?"**

' _A massive snake focused on making me its lunch? Yeah._ '

 **"Ew, gross... I've always hated snakes."**

Naruko resisted the overwhelming urge to facepalm, quickly dodging a strike from the massive snake that appeared to be solely focused on eating her for a quick bite. "Sorry buddy, I'm not that tasty. And I'm not going down without a fight either, I can promise you that right here and now!" she grinned as she launched herself at the snake, slapping a seal on its scales. Shadows instantly broke out from the seal and wound their way around the reptile, binding it into place. Naruko smirked; this had been one of her experimental seals, and she had been lucky Shikamaru agreed to help her out on it. Not sure how long it would last, she cast a quick Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet at the massive snake. The smell of burning flesh and a satisfying sizzling sound arose as it writhed in pain and attempted to put out the fire.

 **"That's not going to hold it for long."**

' _I know_ —' she sent a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough to further along the flames, '— _but it will have to do for now. I need to get back to Sasuke and Sakura._ '

 **"I'm sure they can hold their own—"**

' _There's something off about that Kusa shinobi. Not only is he too strong to be a Genin, but there's something almost menacing and otherworldly about him._ '

 **"...get over there, STAT!"**

' _No need to tell me twice._ ' Naruko skidded to a stop, watching as Sasuke faced off against the Kusa shinobi in hand-to-hand combat before the older Genin suddenly disappeared. Sasuke's Sharingan was activated, so clearly he was being pushed to his limits.

' _Dammit,_ ' Sasuke cursed, ' _I need Naruko to cover my blind spot._ ' His eyes moved fast as he tried to keep up with his attacker's movements. ' _No wait — I see you!'_ He flipped backwards and shot a fast Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, adding another one for good measure. Sasuke's eyes widened as she suddenly appeared, unscathed. He quickly dodged back, switching from bough to bough until he was right above her. Not missing a beat, he let go and grabbed her waist, positioning her headfirst to the ground. "I got you!" he yelled over her screams as they descended through the air.

Naruko's eyes widened as she almost went to her teammate, but there wasn't really anything she could do. Sasuke appeared to have it handled. Besides, any interference now would throw him off-balance, and not to mention it would be fun to—

Naruko visibly grimaced in second-hand pain as the Kusa shinobi's skull slammed into the hard, unforgiving ground, the force reverberating for quite a radius. Sasuke instantly leapt back from her, still unable to let his guard down. And it paid off, because as the shinobi turned to mud via a Kawarimi, he was able to dodge the barrage of chakra-enhanced kunai that was flung at him. As he fell, he pulled out ninja wire, using them to redirect his fall to a neat landing onto a branch.

Naruko saw the Kusa shinobi rushing straight at him; this time she would intervene. Launching off the viewpoint in which she had been perched on like a cat, her sudden weight on the Genin's back was enough to throw him off as he was sent rolling off the other side of the branch.

"Naruko!" Sasuke exclaimed, surprised to see her but not ungrateful. "Where have you been?"

The blonde made a face. "Fighting off an unnaturally large snake that wanted to eat me. But for his size, I think I'd make one-tenth of an appetizer and not a lunch. So I burnt him."

"Figuratively or literally?" Sasuke deadpanned, knowing very well how much she enjoyed using sarcasm.

Naruko deadpanned, "It was a _snake_. Snakes don't understand words that are spoken. The only language they understand is _hisssssss_."

Sasuke sweatdropped. "Well, I mean... it's _you_."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Naruko cried indignantly. It was strange how they found the time to banter like this while in the middle of a fight for their lives against a shinobi who had skills that were far superior to their own.

"Where's Sakura?" Naruko suddenly asked.

Sasuke froze. "I... don't know," he admitted ashamedly.

"You don't— _shit!"_ Naruko did a backflip, narrowly dodging the shuriken that lodged themselves in the place where she had just been standing. Without wasting any time, Naruko launched behind the shinobi — seriously, what was her name? — and slipped three tags on her just before she was thrown off.

"Naruko!" Sasuke called in concern, but was distracted when the tags blew, eliciting a cry of pain and surprise from the snake-like girl. Familiar with Naruko's fighting style, Sasuke didn't miss a single beat as he launched backwards to throw multiple kunai, all attached to chakra-enhanced ninja wire — the Sharingan Windmill Triple Attack. With the Kusa shinobi rendered immobile against a tree with the ninja wire, Sasuke started to weave the handsigns. ' _Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!' _A flame ignited along the wires, travelling fast and turning into a blazing inferno by the time it hit the kunoichi full-force. Screams of pain erupted from her as nearby trees exploded from the sheer force and heat alone. The fire finally burned out, leaving a charred and smoking tree with the limp form of the Kusa Genin tied against it.

"He did it," Naruko breathed.

 **"No..."**

"Sasuke!"

The blonde jerked her head up as she saw their pinkette teammate rushing towards them. "Are you okay?" Her hands hovered over Sasuke who was bent over double and panting heavily, unsure of what to do.

"Probably just chakra exhaustion," Naruko supplied, also making her way over.

Sakura looked up before rushing over to hug her. "You're okay." She sounded on the verge of crying, which was a little unlike the Sakura that Naruko had come to know over the past months.

She gave a reassuring smile to Sakura, and then made her way over to Sasuke. "You alright?" she asked gently, rubbing circles on his back as he fought for breath.

And then, against all odds, the ninja wire broke as the Kusa shinobi stumbled forwards and slammed her hands into a single seal. Sakura suddenly collapsed to her knees as Sasuke started shaking uncontrollably. Naruko gritted her teeth and braced herself; it was hard to stay upright because of the Paralysis the should-be-dead Genin had cast on them. "I didn't expect that you could use the Sharingan this much at your age," a smooth, silky voice commented. "You are truly a member of the Uchiha clan."

 **"Don't tell me—!"**

' _What? Kurama, what is it?'_

The silky voice then turned sinister. "I do want you, after all..."

' _Hooooooooooooooooooooooooly chalupas,_ ' Naruko freaked as the skin literally started to melt off the Kusa Genin's face, revealing another underneath. ' _Is he—_ '

"You're definitely his brother. Your eyes hide more ability than that Itachi."

"Who in the world are you?" Sasuke snapped at the mention of his brother. Despite having logic being slapped into him, Itachi was still a sore subject and rarely mentioned.

What the Kusa shinobi did next could only be described as _regurgitate_ — the Heaven scroll went out from his mouth thanks to his freakishly long and flexible tongue, and into his palm. "My name is—"

 **"Orochimaru!"** Kurama snarled viciously. Naruko was taken aback at the amount of sheer malice and loathing in her tenant's voice. Despite being known as the "embodiment of hatred", Kurama had never showed her anything but kindness. Sure, he would drive her crazy with his teasing, and he would occasionally get annoyed with his Bijuu siblings and at times, angry at her for not taking proper care of herself. But Kurama had never been as outright hateful as he was now.

"If you want to meet me again, desperately run to the top of this test. Defeat the three Oto ninja under my control."

"You're not making any sense at all," Sakura muttered. "We don't _want_ to see your face again."

"It's hideous," Sasuke agreed in a low voice. Naruko smirked; apparently, she had been rubbing off on her teammates more than they'd like to admit.

"Now as a parting gift..." Faster than any of them could comprehend, their adversary's neck shot up at an alarming rate, rushing straight at Sasuke. That, combined with all of them being frozen with the temporary paralysis, left Sasuke vulnerable.

The Uchiha let out a strangled gasp as he felt pointed teeth sink into the tender flesh of his neck.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted in alarm.

 **"He's giving him the same Curse Mark that Anko has!"** Kurama roared, enraged.

And that was all it took for Naruko to see red.

 **(3)** "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blaze!" she bellowed as both her arms ignited with a bright flame, generating a powerful torrent of flames which barraged into Orochimaru in a spiraling formation, knocking the Sannin off his feet and well away from Sasuke. **(4)** "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" She broke free from the paralysis on sheer will alone, her fists alight with spheres of fire as she charged at the Sannin and attacked him with a continuous onslaught of punches enhanced with Kurama's chakra.

Orochimaru was taken aback by the raw amount of power behind the attack, and was soon forced back. In her fury, Naruko didn't notice when he slipped and started to fall, unable to defend himself from the fiery assault.

"Naruko wait—!"

She didn't listen as she instantly dived after the Sannin, feeling Kurama's chakra rise beneath her skin. "Hidden Fire Form: Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!" **(5)**

Sakura leaned over the bough, concerned for her teammate. And she would never forget what she saw; Naruko's entire body was alight with flames, a long wake of flames streaming behind her. They tore through tree after tree until they finally crashed into the ground. Naruko stood, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from her temple. She knew that once the adrenaline wore off, she would undoubtedly crash. But for now...

Orochimaru looked up and actually shivered at the glare on her face; if looks could kill, he would be dead. "Now now," Orochimaru attempted to chuckle, but only succeeded in hacking up blood. "Don't go giving me that look..."

"You gave him the same mark that you gave Anko all those years ago," Naruko growled.

"I see you know my old student," the Sannin mused. He appeared to be — maddeningly enough — _pleased_ at the information, of all things. "Do not fret, child. I merely ensured that Sasuke-kun would come look for me... looking for power."

Naruko's facial features suddenly appeared more feral as her blue eyes turned a menacing red and a rusty-orange chakra started to bubble around her in the form of a one-tailed Bijuu. A red ball of rotating chakra started to form into her small hand without Orochimaru noticing; he was too busy prattling on about "power" and "immortality".

"After all, Sasuke-kun is already deeply motivated by the need to avenge his family, who were mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of his brother— _ack!"_

The Bijuu-infused Rasengan slammed into his torso. Naruko glared fiercely at him, the red eyes as a side affect of her Version 1 Jinchuuriki Transformation, making it look all the more fearsome as she leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Sasuke isn't as motivated by revenge as you think," she hissed. "And I can assure you right here and now, _you won't succeed._ "

"M-Minato's child..." Orochimaru managed to gasp out with wide eyes before falling to the ground, the immature Rasengan having torn right through him.

 **"That's not going to be the last of him, Kit,"** Kurama said grimly as his chakra receded back into him. **"I hope you know that. He's been researching ways to live forever since before you were born. He's conducted numerous illegal, not to mention unethical, experiments. He's not dead."**

' _Good_ ,' Naruko said in disgust. 'That _was just a preview. There's a whole other world of pain just waiting for him._ '

Kurama wisely stayed silent.

Suddenly a cry of pain caught Naruko's attention, and without hesitation she leapt up to where she had left her teammates. For once, Sakura looked at loss of what to do. She didn't want to try and heal it for fear of messing with whatever that snake had done to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, let me see," Naruko pulled at Sasuke's hands which were clamped firmly over his neck. Normally the Uchiha would let her prod and poke at him to appease her, but this time the pain was just too great. "Sasuke!" the blonde girl snapped. "You have to _let me see!"_ When the Uchiha still didn't listen to her, Naruko shot Sakura an exasperated look. "What do we do? I know what that _snake_ did, and I need to assess the damage."

 **"You could try kissing him,"** Kurama suggested.

Naruko blinked. ' _How would that help?'_

 **"It'd distract him, for one thing..."**

Naruko tilted Sasuke's face up, meeting his pained gaze and stared blankly at him for a moment before internally shrugging. ' _Worth a shot._ '

 **"Wait what? I was joking— oh. My. Kami."** Kurama's jaw went slack. **' _The Bijuu are going to have a field day... not to mention Yugito. Oh good Kami,_ all _the jinchuuriki are going to freak out!'_**

Sakura had her hands clamped over her mouth to prevent a squeal of ecstasy from escaping, eyes shining with glee.

Sasuke was frozen, his eyes wide in shock. The smell of the sun and the feeling of soft lips on his overwhelmed his senses, and suddenly, the pain didn't seem all that prominent anymore. Her long blonde hair served as a curtain, closing them off into their own private world. Not knowing what came over him, Sasuke allowed himself to relax and respond.

All too soon, it was over, and the warmth disappeared. Disorientated, Sasuke looked first at the pinkette who was desperately trying not to squeal like a fangirl, and then over at Naruko who was frowning at the mark on his neck. Instinctively, he brought his hands up to cover it but she swatted them away with a warning glare. He backed off instantly; if there was one thing he had learned from being Naruko's teammate, it was to never anger her.

Suddenly feeling woozy, Sasuke's head fell so his chin was touching his chest. Why was it getting harder to breathe? What happened to all the oxygen? Why couldn't he—

"N-Na..."

He fell to his elbows. Dimly, he was aware of Sakura calling to him in worry, but the pounding in his head and the throbbing in his neck that returned with a vengeance was too much for him to bear this time around.

"Naru...k-ko..."

"Sasuke!" the blonde gasped as the Uchiha suddenly collapsed onto her. ' _Sh-t, this is worse than I thought,_ ' Naruko cursed as she maneuvered Sasuke to a more comfortable position. ' _Ah crap_ ,' she thought as she suddenly recognized the signs of chakra exhaustion on herself. ' _Kurama..._ '

 **"I know."**

Naruko hastily bit the pad of her thumb, watching as a drop of blood fell to the branch. A poof of smoke, and a fox the size of a large adult-sized dog appeared. Ignoring Sakura's startled gasp, he quickly fell to his knees in order to cushion Naruko's fall as the blonde promptly passed out.

"Naruko! Are you okay?" At the sight of her other teammate passing out, all of Sakura's fear left her and everything she had studied came rushing back to her. Scrambling over, she quickly ran a diagnostic on the blonde. While she only knew basic Medial Ninjutsu, it would be enough to get them by. It was easy enough to spot the signs of chakra exhaustion, and the pinkette did her best to heal what minor injuries there were.

 **"She's simply suffering from chakra exhaustion."**

The deep voice startled her, and Sakura held a hand to her chest, trying desperately to calm her racing heart as she looked into the passive face of the large fox. "O-Oh, yes I can see that. Um, are you her... summon?" Sakura was unsure about this, as no one in her generation yet had a summoning contract.

The fox huffed, his eight-tails swishing around irritably. **"I suppose you could say that. And if you must call me by something, my name is Kurama."**

Sakura closed her mouth. "Well, I don't suppose you could help me carry these two to a safer location?" the pinkette bit her lip. "I don't think I could carry them by myself."

Again, the fox huffed in what seemed like annoyance. **"Why do you think Kit summoned me? She knew she was about to pass out and didn't want to leave you alone."**

Sakura blinked and looked at the blonde who was passed out by her knees. ' _Naruko... always thinking of others before yourself, huh?'_ She chuckled lightly, and then helped drape both of her teammates over the large fox's back.

 **"Well? What are you waiting for, a white-and-gold invitation engraved with fancy calligraphy?"**

Sakura looked back at him, startled. "Kurama, I think you have enough on your pla— um, _back_."

The fox smirked at her, and Sakura could only watch in a mix of awe and disbelief as he started to grow until he was as big as a horse. **"Still think I don't have enough room?"**

"Well, if you're offering a ride..." She broke into a grin and climbed up onto him, making sure that both her teammates weren't about to slip off anytime soon. "Do you know where it's safe to stay the night?" she asked him as he started to bound from tree to tree with effortless grace.

 **"I'm sure I can find someplace,"** he answered blandly. Sakura kept quiet; he was a fox, and apparently a ninja one at that, so obviously he would be keeping a lookout for a good place to stay while he travelled. Sure enough, Kurama leapt down from a tree and entered a den-like cave. Sakura shouldn't have been surprised at his choice. But at least it was dry, and spacious enough for all of them — three children and a large fox. But the instant Naruko and Sasuke were on the ground, Kurama shrank to the size of Akamaru. **"What?"** Kurama barked at her. **"You saw me grow to the size of those pesky animals you call "horses" before. I can change size whenever I wish. You needn't be so surprised."**

"Um, right." Sakura blinked. She knelt down to check on her teammates again. "Looks like he's developing a fever." She brought out a towel from her hip pouch and was about to wet it with water when Kurama growled at her.

 **"You need that water to stay alive,"** the fox growled disapprovingly.

"But if I don't use it, Sasuke's fever could go up," Sakura argued.

Kurama sighed. **"Very well... give me another canister. I will go find some more water for you to drink. It would not be wise to use it all up on the Uchiha."**

Sakura obeyed; she wasn't sure why the summon was sticking around for so long, but it wasn't like she she was complaining. His being here offered aid, a more convenient way to travel, and probably a lot more protection than she could provide. After all, she was only training as a medic while Sasuke and Naruko were the heavy hitters.

Kurama didn't take long to return, and when he did, it was already dark out. **"Get some rest,"** he said as kindly as he could. He wasn't used to talking to other humans besides his kit and the other jinchuuriki. **"You will need your strength in the morning. I shall keep watch."**

"Do you have enough chakra to stay?" Sakura asked, even though she desperately wanted to sleep. She was one breath away from falling over.

Kurama snorted, and almost bit out a scathing remark when he remembered she didn't know about Naruko being a jinchuuriki, or the extent of her abilities. So he chose his words carefully. **"I am powerful enough to be sustained by my own chakra. That is why Naruko summoned me specifically."**

"Okay..." Sakura still seemed a little unsure.

 **"Sleep, human,"** Kurama ordered softly as he curled around by his host's body. **"I shall wake you if anyone comes near. If not, then at daybreak."**

Sakura nodded, and curled up between her teammates. Something in her nagged at the foolish action of putting her, and her teammate's lives, in the hands — or paws, in this case — of a summon. And yet there was something else about this fox. He seemed to genuinely care for Naruko, and if she had summoned him here to help her, then obviously he wasn't going to up and leave.

She didn't know how long she slept, but when she finally woke from the incessant nudging from something wet and cold at her cheek, it was daybreak. There was movement and a soft rustling in the nearby bushes, causing Sakura to immediately be on the alert. With a hand on her kunai holster, she glanced over at Kurama who had grown to the size of a large dog and was baring his fanged teeth, growling a guttural growl that was by no means welcome.

A squirrel darted out of the bushes, and Sakura relaxed. But Kurama didn't.

He sniffed the air once, and then with a roar, the orange fox leapt out and the frightened squirrel scurried away at once. The fur on Kurama's neck bristled as he growled and snarled at the hedge surrounding them, daring anyone to come near _his_ kit.

"Kurama? That was just a squirrel," Sakura said in slight confusion.

 **"He had a paper bomb on his back."** Kurama turned his attention back to the bushes. **"Do not be surprised if help comes. I was the one who sent for them."**

Sakura opened her mouth, but closed it at Kurama's pointed look. Sensing the hidden message, the Genin drew upon the sensory training she and Sasuke had received from Naruko and expanded her senses to beyond the bushes. Green eyes snapped open as she sensed three chakra signatures. They had been suppressed, but Naruko was that good of a teacher that she had taught them how to sense suppressed chakra signatures. However, the pinkette didn't make a move to suggest she had sensed them, as that would inevitably tip them off.

"Kurama." The fox didn't listen, so she called for him again. This time, he glanced back at her. She smiled encouragingly, patting the ground beside her. "Come here, there's nothing out there."

He shot her an incredulous look; what did she take him for? Some sort of docile house pet?

But contrary to her actions, there was nothing gentle in her eyes. Kurama hesitated, but then trotted over to her. **"What are you doing?"** he growled quietly.

"Giving them a false sense of security," she whispered back, reaching up to scratch behind his ears. "I'm sorry, I know you shouldn't be treated like a house pet, but right now we need to draw them out. It's no use scaring them off; they'll just come right back."

Kurama had to hand it to the girl; she did have a point. He fell to his knees with a irritated huff, and succumbed to the girl's cooing and scratching.

"So, a guard fox and a girly-lookout, huh?" Said fox and girl turned to see the troublesome Oto team. "Well, that won't be necessary anymore. Wake Sasuke up. We want to battle with him."

With a restraining hand on Naruko's fox, Sakura called out to them. "What are you after? I know the one called Orochimaru is calling the shots from the shadows."

The Oto ninja were, surprisingly, alarmed at the information. "I wonder... what he has on his mind?" the hunchback mused aloud.

His teammate's face twisted into a sadistic grin. "I can't stay quiet after hearing that. I will kill this girl, the fox if I have to, and I'll also kill this Sasuke character." He stood up from where he was crouched on a boulder.

"Wait, Zaku," the hunchback cautioned. Zaku had always been the attack-first-think-later type.

"Huh? What is it?" Zaku frowned. He wanted to let loose, dammit. Why wasn't Dosu letting him? They were perfectly vulnerable — the girl didn't look like she would put up much of a fight, the fox could easily be dealt with, and the other two were knocked out cold. It was easy pickings, so _why wasn't he allowed to start having fun?_

He got his answer soon enough in the form of a bushy-browed Genin. "Leaf Hurricane!"

Despite Dosu's earlier caution, the speed at which Rock Lee managed to incapacitate them was impressive, to say the least. Sakura's eyebrows rose when she saw the same squirrel Kurama had scared off earlier perched on his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Dosu asked curiously. And where did he come from? Where was the rest of his team? As far as he knew, this exam pitted every team against each other. So why was this idiotic-looking boy defending the pink-haired girl?

"I'm the beautiful green beast of the village, Rock Lee!"

 **' _'Beautiful' isn't how I'd best describe him_ ,'** Kurama sweatdropped. **' _Green? Yes. Beast? Yes. But_ beautiful?'** he shuddered. **' _Oh good Kami, no._ '**

"Um, why... are you here?" Sakura asked. It wasn't like she was ungrateful, because even with Kurama here she knew she couldn't handle the three Oto Genin. But he was alone, and he also literally appeared from the sky. Could you blame her for being curious?

"I will always show up when you're in trouble," the boy answered confidently. Sakura cocked her head; she didn't even know him. "Or should I say..." he lowered the squirrel to the ground, "it was really because of you. Now run along." With one last look at his saviour, the rodent scurried towards Sakura.

"But I'm your enemy," Sakura said in slight confusion. "I don't think we've met before, either."

"I did say this before, didn't I?"

Sakura looked up at him in surprise. He didn't turn around to look at her, but his words hit her harder than any blow.

"I will protect you until I die."

* * *

 _She ran through the familiar woods, nimbly jumping over roots and hopping from stone to stone. The heart of the forest may seem gloomy and treacherous to some, but to her, this was home._ _She gently reached up to touch the origami flower that hung on a string between the two sides of a split in a dead tree trunk. "I'm home..."_

 _She crawled in, where origami balls, butterflies and stars hung from up above. Plush toys leaned against the side of the walls the trunk formed. It was her little sanctuary, away from the teasing and loneliness._ _Sakura's humming trailed off as she picked up a mirror. "Should I part it here? But..." she let out a groan of frustration, dropping the mirror._

 _"Is something wrong?"_

 _Sakura jumped. "W-Who's there?" she turned around to see a boy with black hair hanging down to his shoulders. He wasn't clothed all that nicely, but she didn't mind._

 _"My name is Rock," the boy answered. "May I... come in?" Wordlessly, Sakura nodded. The boy carefully stepped into her "home away from home", and looked around admiringly. "I like all the decorations."_

 _"Um, thank you," Sakura said shyly, remembering her manners. "I-I'm Sakura Haruno."_

 _"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sakura," he said pleasantly, sitting cross-legged opposite her. "Will you tell me what's wrong, now?"_

 _The girl blushed at his unwavering gaze that was filled with sincerity. "Um, it's nothing. It's just that my forehead..." Just saying it aloud made it sound silly and vain. And that wasn't how she wanted to come across at all._

 _She let out an "eep" as Rock leaned forward to push her fringe out of the way. He looked at her for a minute before letting her hair fall back down. He leaned back with a bright grin, "I think you look beautiful."_

 _A heat flared up her neck at his words, and she smiled shyly at him. "T-Thank you..." She ducked her head. "But all the other kids tease me for it, and—"_

 _"Sakura."_

 _The pinkette glanced up and almost let out a squeak at the intense look in his eyes. Despite not having known each other for more than ten minutes, the boy reached over to take both of her hands in his. "I will protect you until I die."_

 _She had only been six back then. But she believed him._

 _As time passed, Sakura would always sneak out to meet her "boy in the woods". He was always there, no matter what time or what day. When Sakura started the Academy, he was still there. He would occasionally act as her punching bag whenever the incessant teasing got to her, or if she needed a hand with a particular taijutsu move she had been shown that day._

 _Throughout it all, one thing remained the same: his parting words._

 _"I will protect you until I die."_

 _She wasn't sure what he meant by that; she never saw him out of the woods. So how would he protect her? Nonetheless, s_ _he would always smile and thank him, either for spending time with her or for his promise, she never knew. She'd give him a hug and say she'd see him tomorrow._

 _But then one day, she met Ino Yamanaka. And before she knew it, she was swept up in a world of flowers and ribbons. Ino was well-known by everyone in the village. Her boy-in-the woods wasn't known by anyone. Ino gave her confidence wherever she was, because she was always by Sakura's side. Her boy-in-the-woods was just that; a boy in the woods. He was her solace, but in the village, she was alone._

 _She brought Ino her her home-away-from-home. And together, they had redecorated it to match the cosmos that had been growing. Her friendship circle expanded to Choji and Shikamaru._

 _And then she saw a new dango shop had opened up, and she remembered the first time she had dango; it was when she found out it was the boy's birthday, but she had nothing prepared. Angry with herself for forgetting such a dear friend, she practically fled to the tree._

 _No one was there._

 _She crawled into the tree, and found a note tacked onto a plush toy._

 ** _I will protect you until I die._**

 _She had waited. She had waited all day and all night. But he never came._

 _She returned every day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy-in-the-woods. And then Academy started to get harder as she grew older; there was more to study, more to learn, more to practice. She didn't have time to go to their shared home._

 _And then she became Genin. Her friendship circle expanded to the entire Rookie 9. And the boy-in-the-woods became a distant figure of her past._

* * *

"Rock," Sakura breathed. In all the years of knowing him, she had never known his full name. He had simply been her Rock, figuratively and literally.

She glanced over as the Oto nin pulled out a scroll. "I guess it can't be helped," Dosu murmured. "Zaku; I'll give you Sasuke." He threw the scroll over at his teammate. "I will kill them!"

Kurama instantly stood up and was beside Lee in one stride.

Dosu pulled back his shirt sleeve, exposing some sort of mechanism attached to his arm. ' _Bushy-Brow is proficient in taijutsu. Looks like I can have some fun!'_ He rushed at the two, but Sakura threw a kunai at him, forcing him to jump into the air and allowing Lee enough time to pull up a tree root.

"There's a trick to your attack, isn't there?" Lee spoke. "I won't simply avoid it. You showed me your jutsu before."

' _Wow... he's strong,_ ' Sakura blinked as she stared at the massive root that stood between Lee and the Oto nin.

' _Having said that, the odds aren't good since it's one versus three_.' He was running out of time. ' _I'm gonna have to take a chance._ ' Lee's eyes scanned first Dosu, then Zaku, and then Kin. ' _One at a time. I'll give it my all and take each down!'_

* * *

"He's late, that Lee..." Tenten sighed at the kunai that marked the place where Team 9 was supposed to meet up. "Something's not right. He's always precise about time. Perhaps he ran into the enemy..." Tenten looked up at her impassive teammate. "Could it be...?"

Neji's hardened features relaxed into a smirk. "Huh, that wouldn't have happened." He opened his pale eyes. "In any case, let's find Lee."

"Right!"

A million thoughts raced through Neji's mind as he and Tenten were on their way to find their wayward teammate. But one thing he was still prepared for; "Dodge!" He tackled Tenten to the branch just as what could only be described as a wave of sand crashed onto the branch he had previously been standing on.

A red head popped up, followed by black-ringed green eyes and a pale face. "Sorry," he said with a sheepish smile. "That was an accident. The sand has a will or its own." He looked at their hitai-ate. "Leaf shinobi, huh?"

Neji slipped into his Jyuuken stance, already activating his Byakugan.

The Suna shinobi looked at him for a moment, and then tossed an Earth scroll at them. "Give that, and my regards, to Naruko Uzumaki. She'd be the blonde girl in an orange kimono, with a pink-haired girl in a red dress and that Uchiha boy." And then he sank back down to the ground.

Neji and Tenten looked at each other, surprised he hadn't attacked them. "Well, we already have our required set of scrolls, so it's no use for us to keep it," Tenten shrugged. "Might as well give it to this Naruko-kid, if we come across them."

Neji nodded. It was strange, though; why would a he be helping another team? And one from a different village, at that. Were they all not enemies for this particular task? But he had specifically mentioned Naruko. If he remembered correctly, she was the one all parents told their children to stay away from. The deadlast of the Academy. ' _But..._ ' Neji's hands clenched into fists. ' _She was the first in the Academy to befriend Hinata-sama. Naruko is the reason she smiles. And for that, I am indebted to her._ '

"Neji?" Tenten asked cautiously, reaching out to touch her teammate's shoulder.

Neji glanced at her, and nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

' _Gai-sensei... I will utilize that jutsu without reserves._ ' Lee started to unwrap the bandages that were on his forearms. ' _Because this is the time you said..._ '

"When protecting a precious person!" He braced himself as Dosu charged at him, and then he disappeared before delivering a kick to the Oto nin's jaw. Launching up, Lee appeared behind him. "This is just the beginning!" he warned as the bandages started to lengthen and wrap around the Oto nin's body to render him immobile. Lee clamped his arms around Dosu's torso as they plummeted headfirst.

"Oh no," Zaku groaned. "There's no way he can break this fall." He started to weave handsigns. But he didn't notice Sakura's hands moving, either.

"Take this!" Lee cried, "Primary Lotus!" They started spinning rapidly as the ground rushed up to meet them. Zaku made to plunge his hands into the ground in order to break Dosu's fall, but was blown away by a Water Style: Torrent Bullet, courtesy of one Sakura Haruno.

"Kurama, no!" Sakura cried as a blur of orange raced past her. The fox's red eyes glared at her accusingly, as if to ask ' _why the_ hell _are you telling me to stop?'_ Ignoring his palpable anger, the pinkette threw a barrage of shuriken and ordered, "Protect Naruko and Sasuke! No matter what happens... protect them!"

Zaku suddenly appeared in front of his teammates, sound waves pulsating from his palms and knocking back the projectiles.

Sakura raised her arms to protect herself. ' _Air pressure! The shuriken got bounced back._ ' She was, however, pleased to feel the brush of Kurama's fur against her bare calves, meaning he had obeyed her and gone back to protect her teammates.

Her eyes widened as her fall was suddenly jerked to a halt, quite painfully, by the remaining Oto nin. Kin Tsuchi sneered down at her. "Your hair's shinier than mine." She tugged on the pink strands in her hand. "If you have time to worry about your hair, you should practice!" She shook the girl's head harshly. "Getting all spiced up like a woman... Zaku! Why don't you kill that Sasuke guy right in front of this _sexy bug?"_ The sneer in her voice was a clear indication of her contradicting opinion.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Zaku grinned maliciously.

Sakura cracked her eyes open and saw Lee lying motionlessly in front of Dosu, who appeared injured but otherwise alive. ' _What—!'_

She tried to lean forward and appraise his injuries, but Kin jerked her back. "Don't move!"

Frustrated, both at herself and at her situation, Sakura felt hot tears build at the back of her eyes. ' _I'm just dragging everyone down_.' Sasuke's impassive face flashed into her mind. ' _I'm always being protected._ ' Naruko's reassuring grin, bright as always, replaced him. ' _This time for sure... I thought..._ ' A comparison between the boy-in-the-woods to the boy who had stood in front of her took place in her mind. ' _I must protect the people precious to me..._ '

Sakura reached into her kunai pouch. ' _I always act like I'm a full-fledged ninja. I always just... watch them from behind. And yet, Naruko and Sasuke always covered my back and fought for me. Lee, with me at your back, you risked your life and fought for me. You've been with me from the very start, even when I forgot you. I'm so sorry._ '

"Don't even bother," Kin sneered, spotting the blade. "That won't work on me."

Sakura ignored her as she angled the kunai. ' _Naruko and Sasuke taught me so much. Everything I know now, I owe to them. Books and cleverness... they can only get you so far. I wasn't ready the for shinobi life. And they all knew it. But never once did they patronize me, or put me down, or force me to be someone I'm not. They built me up with what I already had. They didn't just teach me skills. They taught me what truly matters; friendship. Bravery. Teamwork. Bonds that are forged and only become stronger through time. Everything I have... everything that I am... I owe to them._ '

With one swift jerk, the blade sliced cleanly through her hair. ' _And that's why I make this vow—_ '

"What?!" she heard Kin shout as she stumbled backwards, caught off balance.

' _—to do everything I can to make it up to them. Whatever they lack, I'll make up for. I know I can never protect them the way they protect me, but I'll be there to patch them up. I'll hold my own. I won't back down. Because that's_ my _ninja way_.'

"Kin! Kill her!" Zaku ordered.

Sakura quickly formed a seal with her hands, and just as Kin pierced her with her own kunai, she was replaced with a log. She came at them from the right, kunai held between her fingers.

"Kin, get out of the way!" Zaku snapped as the hoard of kunai were flung at him. "Useless!" he growled at the girl, positioning his palms in front of him. ' _Air pressure 100%, ultrasonic waves 0%, output..._ ' His eyes widened as the girl continued charging at him. "Fool! Is that all you can do? Slicing Sound Wave!"

Sakura quickly performed a Kawarimi with a log just as the projectiles were hurled back at her. Zaku sneered, "You're easy to spot; up above." He reached back for three kunai as she started to perform the same handsigns. "I told you before: that won't work!" He threw them at her as she fell, and Sakura didn't make a sound as they pierced her flesh.

"Where from next?" Zaku looked around almost maniacally, though his eyes widened as a shadow fell upon him. "What—!" His eyes widened in horror. ' _This time... it's not a substitution._ '

' _Focus on what Naruko taught you about focusing your chakra,_ ' Sakura screamed at herself. ' _We haven't started building up reserves, but—_ ' Her hand formed a fist as she started to pour chakra into that particular limb before smashing it into the ground. The sheer force tore up the ground, blowing Zaku away.

' _Well I definitely sprained something_ ,' Sakura thought blandly to herself as she launched up to spin around mid-air and introduce Zaku to her chakra-enhanced foot. It was a rather satisfying greeting, but she probably damaged something in her foot, too. She wasn't actually quite sure how much chakra she was supposed to put into her attacks, and she already had average-sized reserves. Naruko had a lot of chakra, and Sasuke's reserves were substantially larger than her own as well. However Sakura didn't mind at having the least chakra, because it meant her chakra control was much better than theirs and since she was a Medical Ninja, it suited her just fine. But in this case, all her chakra control just went out the window.

Within the limited time frame, Sakura whipped out a kunai and plunged it at Zaku. The Genin was clearly seasoned enough that he managed to bring up an arm to block the weapon, though she shifted her angle enough to hit a pressure point on his bicep; one of the perks of being a Medical Ninja was knowing where to hit that would cause the most damage. Having drawn blood, Sakura could safely say that she had rendered is arm immobile for the time being.

Zaku had clear alarm and disbelief on his face while Sakura's remained impassive as they both fell to the ground, and she bit on his other arm to pin him down. Wasn't her smartest idea, but she was running out of time. Who knew when Kin and Dosu would join in?

Suddenly, there was a loud howl from behind her.

' _Kurama!'_

* * *

"Who's there? Come out!" Fuu snapped, glaring at the bend. She could sense them. Two of them were strangers, and the third...

He came around with his hands held up in surrender, an amused look on his pale face. "Thanks for blowing my cover, _Bean-chan_." **(6)**

Fuu groaned, throwing her head back as she relaxed her guard. "Maa maa, are we already back to the nicknames? I'm going to kill you one of these days, _Panda-chan_." **(7)**

Gaara smirked deviously at her. "As I recall, Bean-chan, it was Kit who saved you from a Sand Coffin that day."

The Taki kunoichi snorted, cocking her hip. "Yeah right, like you would actually Sand Coffin me for reals." She winked at the redhead, who smirked back at her. On either side of them, their teams looked on in both curiosity and wariness.

Her brother opened his mouth to retort when a loud and rather familiar howl echoed through the Forest of Death. Gaara jerked around. "Kurama," he breathed.

If Fuu had been holding anything, she would've dropped it at the sheer horror that coursed through her in that very moment. Meeting Gaara's eyes, they came to a mutual agreement. She spun around pulled the scrolls out from her pouch, pressing them into Kegon's hands. "I'm sorry, I need to go! I'll meet you at the tower!"

"Wait, Fuu!" Yōrō shouted, but she was already flying away.

"Kankuro, Temari, I apologize. I'll see you at the tower," Gaara said quickly as he formed a platform of sand to follow Fuu.

Kankuro stared after him, and then turned to Temari who was just as bewildered. "Did Gaara no Sabaku just _apologize_ to us?"

* * *

"You punk!" Zaku roared, blood staining his face and arms as he finally kicked the girl off him and raised his one arm to blow her away. He let out a shout as sand wrapped around his leg and hoisted him into the air at the same time a green-haired girl in white landed in front of Sakura.

"F-Fuu!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise, wide-eyed, recognizing her instantly. It was rather hard to forget someone with hair just as bright and unique as her own, after all.

Fuu threw a wink at her fellow kunoichi over her shoulder. "You're Naruko's friend. That means you're my friend, too. Naruko would never forgive me — or either of us, really — if we left you to fend for yourself. Not sure how long we're going to be needed, but we're here all the same."

' _Tch, this is troublesome_ ,' Dosu gritted his teeth. ' _I was told to get Sasuke by the end of the exam. But these newcomers may pose a problem._ '

Gaara narrowed his eyes at Zaku, and didn't lower his gaze even when he shot out a hand to the Oto girl. A wave of sand slammed into Kin and pinned her against a nearby tree. The force was great enough that it both winded her and knocked her unconscious. The redhead smirked, ' _Two birds with one stone. Good job, Shukaku._ '

 **"Happy to help. They threaten Naruko, they threaten Kurama. And I won't let anyone else besides me threaten my siblings."**

Gaara rolled his eyes; just like Shukaku to turn something nice into something twisted.

"Gaara," Fuu complained, "you didn't leave any for me!"

The redhead turned to her with an amused look. "Oh please, as if you actually enjoy fighting. This way no blood is shed and no bones are broken. But above all, no energy is wasted."

"Yes," Fuu rolled her eyes, "because simply being alive isn't an effort in itself."

Gaara snorted in amusement. "Since when did you become tainted with cynicism?"

"Hmph. Two foreigners already having taken care of the lot. Looks like we didn't really need to rush here after all."

All eyes turned to where a boy with pale eyes and a girl with two buns on either side of her head were perched up in a nearby tree. "Lee!" the girl exclaimed in concern upon seeing her wayward teammate knocked out on the floor.

"You goofed," the boy sighed.

' _They must be Lee's teammates_ ,' Sakura realized.

"Heh! Coming out of nowhere like cockroaches," Dosu taunted, but the Hyuuga cut him off.

"That kid with the bob lying over there is on our team, but..." His voice suddenly rose as the veins around his eyes popped out, indicating an activated Byakugan. "You messed with him, didn't you?!"

For the first time, Dosu appeared appropriately alarmed. ' _What's with his eyes? It's like they see through everything..._ '

' _Good Kami, either he gets pissed easily or he's just really protective!'_ Sakura thought in alarm.

"If you're going to continue, I'll fight with full strength," Neji growled. Beside him, Tenten held a hand to her kunai pouch. Suddenly Neji made a soft noise of surprise. ' _This chakra..._ '

"Neji?" Tenten asked softly, noticing he had deactivated his dojutsu. "What's wrong?"

Dosu called up, "If you don't like me, don't play cool; come down here."

Neji closed his eyes with a brief smirk. "No. Evidently, there's no need for that."

And that was when everyone felt it.

* * *

 _Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and found himself floating in a what seemed like a dimension between time and space. It was empty, and coloured a soothing gold. But something was off. The atmosphere was strangely serene._

'Where is this place?' _he looked around for something or someone; he wasn't sure which. And then he saw a someone in front of him. Sasuke gritted his teeth._ 'Who is it?' _Their features came to light, and he instantly recognized the young face that was a canvas of pain mixed with hatred and despair._ 'Me... from long ago?'

 _Seven-year-old Sasuke Uchiha lifted his head, angry tears streaming down his face. "Otou-san and okaa-san didn't need to die!"_

 _A tear fell to the ground... and the present Sasuke was transported back to the night his clan was massacred. He found himself in the room where he had first discovered his parents' bodies. Blinding hot agony tore through him as his younger self continued to lament._

 _"Everyone was killed. I had no power, so..." Young Sasuke's eyes were shadowed by his bangs. "The clan vanished."_

 _Sasuke found himself back in that golden dimension, listening to his younger self berate himself for his weakness._

 _"After all... without power... I can't do anything! Because I had no power... everyone was killed! No..." His younger self looked up, an almost maniacal look in his eyes as he held a hand over his left eye. "You let them be killed." His hand shifted down with a sickening ripping sound. "You only... watched. If only I had power..."_ _His hand slipped even further, revealing white skin and a yellow slitted eye like a snake's. A much deeper voice echoed, "If only I had power..."_

 _And then purple chakra erupted from all sides, washing over him, enveloping him, suffocating him..._

The first thing he heard was Sakura's voice.

"Sasuke! You're awake!" Sakura cried joyfully, but all delight dropped from her face as fear took its place. "S-Sasuke?" she stuttered at the sight of the menacing purple chakra that continuously burst from him in a spiraling formation.

Kurama narrowed his eyes; **' _I don't like this. This feeling, it's almost_ bloodthirsty.'**

Gaara whirled around at the familiar malice in the air. It was triggering something in him... a wild and uncontrolled _need for blood_. Unable to keep up his hold, the redhead dropped both Kin and Zaku as he struggled to extinguish his urge to kill. ' _Shukaku! Control yourself!'_

Fuu gritted her teeth. ' _This feels like one of those rare instances when Gaara would lose control because of his stupid seal_.'

As Sasuke slowly righted himself, a flame-like pattern appeared upon the left side of his body. "Sakura..." he said in a low, dangerous tone, and said girl noted that his Sharingan was spinning wildly, giving him more of a demonic look. "Who did this to you?" When Sakura didn't answer, he asked again, this time with more force; "Who is it?"

Dosu's one eye widened. ' _The Curse Mark runs around his entire body?!'_

"S-Sasuke," Sakura finally found her voice. "That mark..."

Sasuke looked down at his left arm, which looked like it had been tattooed with a pitch-black flame pattern. "Don't worry. On the contrary, strength is rapidly flowing in." His hand curled into a fist. "Right now, I feel good." Orochimaru's eye on his younger self's face flashed into mind. "That man gave this to me. At last I understand... I'm an avenger. On the road, I must put power into my hands, even if it means abandoning myself to the devil." Conviction and rage thrummed through his veins as he asked the girl he had sworn to protect, "Sakura, tell me: who harmed you?"

Zaku — who was clearly either dumber than Academy Naruko or just plain suicidal — called out with a hint of pride and mockery, "Me!"

Kurama mentally face-pawed. **' _Shinigami grant that poor unfortunate soul a painful but quick death._ '**

At once the demonic-red eyes were turned on Zaku.

But Fuu only had eyes for her brother, who was visibly struggling. Not exactly wanting to be caught between the Sound ninja and the seemingly-possessed Leaf ninja, she hurried over to Gaara was was physically trembling from the mental strain.

' _Shukaku!'_ Gaara ground out. ' _Get... a hold... of yourself!'_

 **"I'm trying!"** the One-Tailed Raccoon snapped, though his voice was considerably strained. Seeing as Shukaku had always been the more "insane" and "bloodthirsty" of the Bijuu, it really wasn't any surprise that his violent nature was starting to re-surface. **"Cub, get out of here! I don't know how long I can fight that influence!"**

Cursing, Gaara hastily tried to form a platform of sand. It fell apart almost at once. Fuu, seeing exactly what was going on, grabbed Gaara's torso and lifted them both into the air, flying well out of the radius of the chakra. "When all this is over I'm going to interrogate and Sand Coffin Naruko," Gaara muttered under his breath, causing Fuu to snort in amusement.

"Yes, but then you'd beg Shinigami to return her to life."

"As if," Gaara muttered. "She's an annoyance and a half. I'd be doing everyone a tremendous favour."

Fuu smiled softly, "But then, we'd all be lost without her, wouldn't we?"

Gaara sighed. "Yes," he admitted, "we would." They were silent for a moment until Fuu found a large bough for them to rest it. Gaara took Fuu's hand in his, closed his right eye and sent a Third Eye so they could still keep up with what was going on.

The black marks on Sasuke turned blazing red and stretched to cover his entire face before returning to its inky blackness.

' _W-What is this?!'_ Dosu thought in trepidation. With the familiar dark chakra, for a brief moment he could almost see Orochimaru smiling darkly at him from behind Sasuke. ' _No matter how you look at it, his chakra is too big!'_

"Dosu, this half-dead bastard is nothing to be afraid of!" Zaku, ever the foolhardy man, shouted.

"Stop, Zaku!" Dosu cried. "Don't you understand?"

"I'll take care of all of them... in one fell swoop!" Zaku declared. "Super Sonic Slicing Wave!" The force was so strong that it affected not only his targets, but his teammates, Team 9, and even Fuu and Gaara who were a considerable distance away. Kurama had instantly taken Naruko upon his back, grabbing Sakura's collar in his mouth on the way as he leapt into the trees to avoid the prime-target zone, though they were still affected seeing as they were in the immediate area; so much so that Kurama had to take refuge within Naruko.

When it was over, the surrounding trees had been felled and there was a crater leading from Zaku to where Team 7 had sheltered for the night. "Heh! He must've been blown to pieces," Zaku observed cockily.

"Who did?"

Zaku's eyes widened as an elbow slammed into his back, sending him rolling towards Dosu. ' _He's fast!'_

Alarm crossed both Dosu and Zaku's faces as Sasuke's hands moved into a familiar sequence of handsigns. ' _Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!'_

"Don't push your luck!" Zaku shouted with a deep scowl. "I'll blow them off!" Having regained the use of his right arm sometime earlier, Zaku thrust both palms in front of him to emit sound waves to extinguish the fireballs headed straight for him — only to reveal shuriken hidden within the flames. They cut into him, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Zaku! Below you!" Dosu hollered.

Zaku didn't move in time as he found himself on his knees, both arms pulled behind him and Sasuke's foot on his back. A cruel smirk tilted Sasuke's mouth. "It seems like you're proud of your arms... you!"

Everyone in the immediate vicinity watched in horror as the Sound ninja's arms were brutally dislocated by Sasuke, who didn't appear fazed at all. Instead, he turned to Dosu.

"You're the only one left."

Dosu trembled as Sasuke turned to fully face him, a cruel smirk on his marked face. "You... make it a little more fun for me," he demanded.

' _T-This isn't... Sasuke..._ ' Sakura watched wide-eyed as Sasuke walked slowly and purposefully to his next target, blood-red eyes locked on Dosu. ' _This..._ ' And like a dam broke, the numerous memories she had created with her team in such little time flashed to mind. ' _This isn't..._ ' Grins. Banters. Promises. Training. Sparring. Eating. Bonding. ' _This isn't Sasuke!'_

Sakura rose to her feet and ran after her teammate. "S-Stop it!" she cried, reaching and grasping desperately onto him, holding him tight. "Stop it," she pleaded.

Sasuke turned sharply to look back at her, but Sakura didn't back down. Her tear-filled eyes stared pleadingly into his dangerous ones. He could throw her off him if he wanted to. They both knew it. And for a moment, it was just the two of them in the world.

"Please..." Sakura whispered, "stop."

Neither broke their staring competition, but the marks on Sasuke's body started to glow like coals before slowly receding, leaving pale and unblemished skin. Sasuke collapsed, breathing heavily. Sakura kept her arms around him, supporting him — just like she always did.

"Sasuke..."

"You're strong."

Both shinobi turned to look at Dosu, who was holding out an Earth scroll. "Sasuke... we can't defeat you the way you are now." He knelt down and left the scroll on the ground. "This is our fee for settling this. Please let us withdraw from here." He stood up and began to walk away to pick up his incapacitated teammates. "It seems selfish, but we now have something to confirm, too. That being said, if there's another opportunity to battle with you in this test... we won't run or hide."

"Wait!" Sakura called out, halting Zaku in his retreat. "Who in the world is this 'Orochimaru'? What did he do to Sasuke? And why Sasuke?"

"I don't know," Dosu admitted. "We were just given orders to make the hit on Sasuke."

Sakura watched him walk away, a glare set firmly on her face. She flinched when a hand touched her shoulder gently, but when she looked up it was Naruko, staring impassively after the Sound nin. Her other hand was on Sasuke's shoulder. It was almost terrifying the way Naruko's face was so devoid of any and all emotion. Sakura had gotten used to seeing Naruko always either with a smile or with a determined look on her face.

Naruko's eyes flickered down at her, and then over at Lee. Sakura gave her nod, catching the hint, and then started to make her way towards the grown up version of her boy-in-the-woods.

Naruko knelt in front of Sasuke, who was gripping his trembling left hand and staring at it in horror. "What am I..."

Though her face was impassive, Naruko felt sympathy well in her. Taking hold of his chin again, she did what her mother always did to calm her; she leaned in to kiss his forehead.

When she pulled away, Sasuke was looking up at her in a way that resembled a lost child. "I..."

Naruko kept her face carefully blank. Sasuke didn't need pity, or anger, or any other strong emotion from anyone. "The Sasuke I know would've never done that on purpose." When his eyes fell to the ground in shame and self-loathing, she tilted his head until he was forced to look her in the eye. Her gaze softened. "It wasn't your fault."

Four softly spoken words, and that was all it took for Sasuke to lean into her as tears started to pour from his eyes, his shoulders trembling, though he didn't make a sound. Naruko rubbed his back soothingly, not saying a single word. One lesson she clearly remembered from her mother was that, often times, it was easier if you were simply allowed to cry out all your fear and pain, without someone whispering empty promises in your ear, because in that moment nothing seemed right in the world. Because for one moment, you needed to fall apart because you knew nothing would be ever okay again. And then, when you stopped crying, your view of the world had been washed clean by your tears. And that was when things finally started to become okay.

Sakura looked up as the brunette girl with two buns on her head landed silently beside her. She looked down at the pinkette, "I'll take care of him from here."

"Oh... okay."

The instant the words left her mouth, the brunette started to shake poor Lee rather violently. "Keep it together, Lee!" she shouted at him, clearly annoyed at his antics before abruptly dropping him onto his knees.

And surprisingly, Lee opened his eyes to look at her. "Oh... Tenten, why are you here?" he asked, clearly still somewhat disorientated.

Tenten crouched down to face him. "I came to help."

Lee looked around. "Those guys... where's the Oto ninja?"

"A kid named Sasuke drove them away," Tenten answered, and then she launched into a lecture. "Why did you foolishly decide to act on your own? Besides, you really got beaten up!"

"Sakura was in danger, so I..."

' _You're kidding..._ ' Tenten sweatdropped, and then frowned. ' _If it were Lee alone, he wouldn't've lost to those guys_.' She looked back up at her teammate. "You really are stupid," she stated a-matter-of-factly.

Lee hugged his knees to his chest, the very image of a reprimanded child. "I can't argue with that."

Sakura quickly intervened. "Well, if it wasn't for him, I would've been defeated a lot earlier." She gave him a warm smile. "Thank you for trying your best, Lee."

"Sakura..." Lee looked down. "It looks like my efforts weren't enough." He looked up as Naruko and Sasuke made their way over, the latter's eyes completely dry. "Sasuke... just what you'd expect from the Uchiha clan. To chase off those Oto ninja, just as I thought, you possess amazing strength. I was beaten to a pulp."

Sasuke's eyes widened. ' _What? He was beaten to a pulp? What's he talking about? Were those guys really that strong?'_

"Sakura."

The pinkette looked back at Lee. "Yes?"

"The Lotus of the Leaf Village blooms twice. When we meet again, I will have become a stronger man. I pledge it."

Sakura smiled softly. "Okay."

Naruko had been staring at the boy with the bowl cut the entire time, and the moment he looked at her, it snapped into place. "That's it!" Team 9 and her teammates looked at her curiously. She blushed, "Sorry... um, Lee reminded me of someone and I didn't really know until now." She crouched down by to look at him closely, tilting her head as an amused smile played with her mouth. "He's a carbon copy of Gai."

"Who?"

Naruko's smile turned into a devilish smirk. "Oh... believe me, you'll know when you see him."

"You know Gai-sensei?" Lee gaped at her.

The blonde grinned, and stuck out her hand. "Naruko Uzumaki. It's nice to meet you, Rock Lee. Thank you for protecting Sakura when we couldn't."

Rock Lee nodded dumbly. His teammate sighed and reached out to take Naruko's hand. "My name is Tenten. Our other teammate is Neji Hyuuga," she inclined her head to where said boy was watching them. "So, you're the famous Naruko Uzumaki we've heard so much about."

Naruko went pale. "Oh no... what did Gai tell you about me?"

"Nothing _too bad_ ," Tenten winked. Naruko covered her face with a deep groan of utter humiliation and loathing. "But actually, it was some redheaded kid from Suna that told us the most about you. All Gai-sensei ever spoke of was a "youthful blue-eyed girl with hair as bright as her spirit", or something like that," Tenten shook her head with a smile.

Naruko's eyebrow twitched. "I'm going to kill that beast," she muttered under her breath. "Wait, what were you doing with Gaara?"

"I'm going to assume Gaara is the redheaded kid?" At Naruko's nod, Tenten motioned for Neji Hyuuga to join them. He did so, albeit a little reluctantly, and passed the Earth scroll to Tenten while he started to berate Lee. "He gave us this on our way to find Lee," Tenten handed it to Naruko. "Said to give this, and his regards, to you."

Naruko looked over at Naruko and Sakura. "Don't we already have two scrolls?" At her teammates' shrugs, Naruko broke out into a grin. "Well, if we have extra, all that means is less competition for us in the later stages!" She tucked it away into her hip pouch, ' _Thanks, Gaa-chan_.'

* * *

Naruko lay awake in the bed that was provided in the tower. It had been an eventful few days, and most definitely traumatic. She knew she had come a long way from since the Wave mission, even if it didn't feel like it. While her experiences left no long-lasting physical effects, her mental outlook would be permanently shifted. She had slept for a while, until a nightmare had scared her awake. Naruko turned over her side, frowning to herself. There were too many thoughts racing through her mind to allow her to fall back to sleep.

 _The Curse Mark._

 _Sasuke._

 _Orochimaru._

She shuddered at the memory of the half-melted skin, the yellow slitted eye—

Naruko smashed her head into her pillow, trying desperately to rid herself of the memories. It wouldn't do for her to be exhausted the next day. After a few more minutes, she gave up. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face. Saw him extending his neck. Heard Sasuke's scream.

Silently, she slipped out of bed and made her way to the roof. It was roughly half an hour before the sun would start to rise. Naruko leaned by the railing, allowing herself to be lost in the night sky. Tonight, the sky was clear, and the stars were especially bright against the navy sky. And she allowed a happier memory to take place; when Yugito had taken her stargazing one night, and they spent hours finding constellations together. Yugito told her every story behind every constellation. And Naruko still remembered them, even now. If she had fallen asleep that wonderful night, Naruko didn't remember. All she knew was, the next morning, she wasn't in her own bed. She had been in her mother's arms, and Naruko didn't want to be anyplace else.

A cold breeze blew past, and Naruko gave an involuntary shiver. Arms wrapped around her waist and the blonde didn't even need to open her eyes to know who it was. She had sensed the both of them the minute they stepped onto the roof, and they knew it. A shawl was unceremoniously dropped on her head, and Naruko quickly pulled it off.

Gaara leaned on the railing, staring out at the sun that had just started to peep over the horizon line. He glanced over at the blonde. "You shouldn't of come out without something warm."

Naruko smiled softly as Fuu took it from her hands and wrapped it snugly around them both. "And what about you?"

Gaara shrugged, not gracing her with a reply. The jinchuuriki frowned and moved closer to him. He didn't move as she lifted the other edge of the shawl and gently wrapped it around him. She leaned her back against his chest — noting with mild chagrin that he was a head taller than her — and tugged Fuu into a hug. Gaara wrapped his arms around both his triplets, resting his cheek on Naruko's head.

It was rather chilly as the sun had yet to take it's place in the sky, but in that moment, not one of them felt the cold. It was comforting to have someone there, and Naruko knew that everyone on the roof was struggling with their own inner demons, literally and figuratively. And yet they had somehow known that she wouldn't be able to sleep, and had taken the time to come and be with her. It was times similar to these that she was always eternally grateful to her family.

 **"Naruko... I want to run something by you."**

Naruko almost sighed. ' _Yes?'_ she asked almost warily. After all, the last idea had provoked a rather violent reaction from the Bijuu. What was the big deal, anyway? All she had been doing was distract Sasuke. And it had helped; he stopped screaming and had relaxed.

 **"That particular curse mark is not just classified under juinjutsu and kinjutsu, but also under senjutsu."**

' _Knew the first two, did not know the second. Continue._ '

 **"In essence, the Cursed Seal of Heaven could also be seen as a demon mark."**

' _I'm liking where this is going..._ '

 **"You can't purify it from Sasuke with my chakra because you would likely need senjutsu to do so, or perhaps some sort of complex fūinjutsu. I don't know, I'm not a Fūinjutsu Master; you can decide."**

' _Liking this just a little less, but still interested._ '

 **"My point is, that for you to remove this Cursed Seal from Sasuke, you would have to learn senjutsu. But in the meantime, we can probably suppress it enough that he can't draw on it's power. And as it is with all curse marks, the Cursed Seal of Heaven gives the user increased chakra and stamina."**

Naruko's face turned blank. ' _Tell me what I need to do._ '

 **"Naruko, you just recovered from chakra exhaustion, which had only come about because you used three original jutsus, all of which hadn't even been perfected and required huge amounts of chakra. Not to mention you going into your One-Tailed Mode and the Rasengan. Add to that, we've never tried this before. This could be dangerous, to the both of you, or at least very painful for _you_ _—_ "**

' _I don't care,_ ' Naruko said shortly. ' _If I don't do this, who knows what will happen. Tell me what I need to do._ ' She paused. ' _Please, Kurama. I can't lose him_.'

The fox closed his eyes, hating how vulnerable his host sounded. **"Alright... but promise me that you will at least research into this first. I don't want you making this any worse."**

' _Deal_.'

* * *

 **OMAKE:**

"There wasn't any pain. I crushed him with more force than necessary, so it was over quickly." Gaara appeared immune to the horrified expressions of the remaining Ame team. "The corpse is bitter crimson tears flowing and mingling with the endless sand, feeding the chaos within me. And making me stronger."

Hiding in the trees, Fuu stuck out her tongue rather rudely at her brother while Naruko trembled with the effort needed to not laugh. Who knew Gaara could be so theatrical? Obviously he had just pretended to crush the guy and used the rain of "blood" to transport him somewhere else. If he was lucky, back home to Ame.

"Just take the scroll!" one of the ninjas cried fearfully, pulling out a Heaven scroll. "Go on. Here." He dropped it onto the ground and backed away.

"Yes! Take it!" his teammate practically wailed. "Please spare us!"

Gaara chucked the umbrella away from him, face devoid of emotion. He held up his palms, fingers slightly curved inwards. Sand in the form of hands snaked around the Ame ninja's legs and around their bodies, bringing them to the same fate as their other teammate. Gaara's eyes narrowed and he closed his hands into fists. Sand and black liquid sprayed everywhere as their screams echoed through the area.

"Hey Fuu," Naruko hissed, "five bucks they're all placed somewhere different. I bet he dumps one in a river."

"You're on," Fuu smirked. "I'm betting they're all back in Ame." She blinked and then nudged her sister. "Hey, isn't that Hinata and Kiba?"

Naruko looked down, and sure enough, Team 8 was trying to make an escape. "Oh damn..."

Kankuro walked over and picked it up with a pleased smile. "We got lucky. It's a Heaven scroll." He turned back to his siblings. "Alright, now let's head to the tower."

"Just shut up," Gaara muttered.

"Oh, family spat!" Fuu was practically bouncing on her toes. "Are you gonna take that from your baby brother, Kitty-Kuro? Well? Are ya? Are ya?"

Naruko facepalmed. "Who was the dumbass and gave _you_ sugar this time?"

"It's not... it's still not enough for me," Gaara responded to Kankuro's disbelieving statement.

Naruko winced as she saw Team 8 freeze in their tracks. The poor kids must be frightened. And to be fair, if she wasn't Gaara's sister, she would've been scared too.

Kankuro frowned uneasily. "Come on Gaara, let's go."

Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you, scared? _Coward_."

To Fuu's immense delight, Kankuro narrowed his eyes in return. "Look, Gaara. I know this test is no problem for you, but it's dangerous for Temari and me. One set of scrolls is good enough. It's all we need to pass."

Gaara simply held out an arm, his palm facing to where Team 8 was. "Losers."

"Every time he insults them, I remember when he insulted us but in a different tone," Naruko snickered to Fuu. "Like when he was baiting Yagura to play with him. Can you believe that child is the Mizukage?"

Fuu choked on air. " _Yagura Karatachi?_ Our big brother and best playmate? _He's_ the _Mizukage_ now?" At Naruko's gleeful nod, the green-haired girl shook her head in disbelief. "Oh no, I have to see this for myself."

"Just like you had to see what Gaara's acting abilities are?" Naruko asked in amusement.

"I don't get why he acts like this," Fuu said with a shrug.

 **"Maybe because he can sense you and is putting on a show for you to enjoy?"** Kurama said flatly.

' _Shh_ ,' Naruko grinned, ' _of course he knows. But let her enjoy this in peace_.'

Kurama rolled his eyes, dropping his head into his paws. **"Kami, give me strength."**

By the time the two girls tuned back in, Gaara was very snidely telling Kankuro, "Can't tell me what to do."

"Ooh," Fuu's eyes gleamed wildly. "If he ever said that to Yagura, Utakata, Han or Bee, he'd be in for one hell of a lecture! Actually, it depends on who he said it to — if it was Yagu-nii, he would just blow up and give him a whole-ass lecture that Gaa-chan won't even listen to, let alone take seriously. I know Gaa-chan respects Uta-nii too much to ever say that, but I'm saying that if he did, Uta-nii would give him the Look of Disappointment and then walk away, because that's all it takes for you to go find him and apologize sooner or later. Same with Han-nii. I swear those two are secretly related. And Bee-nii honestly wouldn't even care because half the time, he doesn't ever listen to anyone."

Naruko snickered. "Keep this up and we're going to blow our cover."

"Oh! Oh! Family spat just got physical!"

"That sounds wrong on so many levels," Naruko groaned, facepalming. But nonetheless, she peered through the foliage once more.

"Alright, that's enough!" Kankuro growled, grabbing the strap of Gaara's gourd. "Sometimes you just have to listen to what your big brother says!"

"Uh-oh~" Fuu whispered to Naruko, who swatted at her. The Taki kunoichi ducked, grinning impishly.

Gaara glared up at Kankuro. "It's too bad I don't think of you as my big brother at all," he said in a low voice. ' _My true brothers are Yagura, Utakata, Han and Bee_.'

"If you get in my way, I'll kill you." He hit Kankuro's hand away from him, never once breaking eye contact. ' _I hope Naruko and Fuu are enjoying the show, because I might've just destroyed all that I've worked for in the past two years_.' He held out his hand again.

"Wait, just hold on, Gaara," Temari's tentative voice called, and Gaara internally screamed for joy. "You don't have to treat us like we're the enemy. Look, do it as a favour for your sister... please?"

Gaara pondered it for a moment. He didn't have any older sisters to rebut her with, so looks like no scathing remark for her. Lucky Four-Leaf-Clover Temari. But Kankuro was still looking at him with _that look_ , so Gaara moved his hand to face his 'big brother'. He held it there for a moment, enjoying the suspense, and then moved it back to the bush. Sand grains began collecting in his palm.

"Oh no," Naruko's sharp hearing caught Hinata's whimper, and she instantly felt sorry for her first friend. She heard Kiba and Shino's quickened heartbeats, and was ready to jump down and tackle her brother when—

"Gaara!" Temari shouted with a significant amount of of pleading mixed with desperation.

Gaara's hand clenched into a fist.

Kankuro squeezed his eyes shut.

Gaara turned to look at the cork that was in his hand. "Alright... this time," he conceded.

Naruko and Fuu stared at him open-mouthed before falling over in fits of giggles. Team 8 and the Sand Siblings all looked up at the tree where two girls with brightly-coloured hair were rolling around on the branch giggling so hard it sounded like they were about to suffocate from lack of oxygen. "Did you see the looks on their faces?!" Naruko squealed out, clutching her aching torso.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Enjoyed the show?" he called out to his troublesome sisters as he tucked the cork back into his gourd.

"Enjoyed it?" Fuu exclaimed. "Personally, I found it bloody freaking _hilarious!_ I _love_ you, Gaa-chan! Naruko, did you enjoy the show?"

Naruko held up a hand, took a deep breath, and promptly collapsed laughing again. Gaara rolled his eyes; this was so typical of them. He flicked out a hand, and the sand formed as a sort of slide when Naruko tipped over and started to slide all the way down to his feet. Gaara looked down at her in both impatience and amusement. "Are you done yet?"

Naruko stood up, took a deep breath — privately, Gaara thought she looked like a chipmunk with her cheeks stuffed with acorns — and then burst into laughter right in his face. Fuu giggled as she flew down to join them. "So? What did you do with them?"

The brother narrowed his eyes at his sisters who were innocently smiling at him. "You didn't..." He let out a loud groan. "You did! You had a bet on what I did with them!"

Naruko shot him with finger guns. "Cha-ching! Right on the money! So?"

Gaara dragged a hand down his face. "Alright, let's hear the options. And mind you, it better not be anything crazy like "shrink him and deposit him up a civilian elder's arse". That actually had me thinking about what if I actually did do that for a whole day the last time you suggested it," he deadpanned.

Fuu choked. "Really?!"

The redhead nodded soberly as his biological teammates looked on in understandable shock.

Naruko cleared her throat. "Fuu bet that you transported them all back to Ame. I bet that you dumped them somewhere randomly, with one in a river."

Gaara stared at them blankly, and then sighed. "I did transport them back to Ame—"

"YES!"

"—but..."

"No!"

"...they landed in a river."

Naruko pounced on him. "Separate rivers? Separate parts of the river? Same place, same river?"

Gaara shrugged. "I don't know."

Fuu smirked triumphantly at Naruko. "I win! He put them in Ame."

"I specifically said "in a river"," Naruko pointed out. "I think I win, too. And they could be all in different places like I said."

"But they're in _Ame._ "

"Tie?" Naruko offered her hand. "We both win?"

"Fine," Fuu sighed, taking her hand.

Gaara sighed. "Sorry you had to see that, Temari, Kankuro—"

With an evil gleam in her eye, Naruko ran up and jumped onto Gaara's back. To the surprise of the Kazekage's eldest children, the sand didn't rise up to block her. "Ne, ne, Gaa-chan." Naruko whirled him around to directly face the Sand Siblings. "Are they the beloved older siblings you speak of all the time? Temari's even more beautiful than you said she was!"

Gaara's pale face instantly flushed red. "N-Naruko!" he yelled, throwing her off and chasing her as she ran away from him, laughing all the while. "Shut up shut up SHUT UP!"

"Well, it's not every day we get to see Gaa-chan lose his composure," Fuu grinned as she stood beside Temari.

The blonde glanced at the shorter girl. "D-Does he... really talk about us?"

"Oh yeah, all the time," Fuu grinned. "Lucky Four-Leaf-Clover Temari, and Kitty-Kankuro." She bit her lip to stifle a laugh. "I can see why he chose those particular nicknames. Of course, he'll never call you that to your face. He's too shy."

"Gaara?" Kankuro gawked. "Shy?"

"No! Stop! Please, have mercy!"

The three turned to where Naruko had been pinned down with sand and Gaara was mercilessly jabbing her sides, causing her to squirm and cry out for mercy.

"Ah, the Tickle Monster. Haven't seen that come out in a while," Fuu mused. "Naruko is always his prime target."

" _Tickle Monster?"_ Kankuro repeated. He looked on the verge of passing out.

"The only kind of monster Gaara becomes," Fuu agreed. "Although, he and Naruko also share the title of "Snuggle Monster"."

Kankuro gaped at her like a fish out of water before promptly fainting.

Temari gave Fuu a look, and the younger girl simply giggled. "Oops?"

* * *

 **(1) Adult Akamaru**

 **(2) Baby raccoons are called kits OR cubs. And seeing as Kurama calls Naruko "Kit", I thought it would be better to have a differentiation between the two**

 **(3) — (5): Natsu Dragneel's moves from the anime "Fairy Tail". I'll be incorporating a few Fire moves from Fairy Tail and Shakugan no Shana, just because I think that having Fire Style from being a jinchuuriki should come with a few side benefits :)**

 **(6) Bean-chan; I chose this nickname because all my friends call me a "smol bean" (to my great chagrin) and Fuu seems to me as a smol bean + cinnamon roll. Also her hair is green, so hence the "Bean-chan"**

 **(7) Panda-chan; I believe the name is rather self-explanatory**

 **A/N: So I thought up of that omake when I was re-watching the Chuunin Exams just so I could write this chapter, and honestly do you have any idea how much I skipped just to get to the important parts? Anyway, when I saw the scene in the omake I started laughing so hard because all of that suspense and he was just getting his cork! I love that Panda...**


	11. Chuunin Exams: Preliminaries

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

Sasuke was scowling. Why was the dobe so happy to see that redheaded, sand-controlling boy? It didn't make sense. Well, not to the Uchiha anyway. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he was starting to care for the blonde more than he would like to admit. It was frustrating, trying to think of what had changed. Because apart from that kiss in the Forest of Death, had anything really changed? Was Naruko just trying to distract him, or was it something more? The Uchiha was on the verge of tearing his hair out; why were girls so complicated? Times like these, he wished the clan were still alive so he could ask his mother, or even Izumi. She had been one of Shisui and Itachi's close friends... no. He couldn't think about them — about _him_ — right now. He had to focus. So why was that kiss still on the forefront of his mind? This was ridiculous; they were teammates and close friends. Nothing more, and nothing less. He couldn't afford to have it become something more... but Sasuke also knew he would fall apart if ever it became something less.

Sakura noticed Sasuke's expression and couldn't stop a slight smirk from gracing her face. She found it laughably obvious that the Uchiha was slowly but surely falling for the blonde fox, and while she had once held feelings for the raven, she let them go after realizing Sasuke would never love her the way she wanted him to. If a brotherly love was all he was willing to give her, she would accept what she could get.

Their attention was turned to a male Jonin who now stood in front of the crowd; "Nice to meet you, everyone." He spoke calmly, quietly. "There's something I'd like you to do—" a few coughs broke into his sentence, "—before the third exam." He broke into another coughing fit, hiding his mouth with his fist.

Naruko touched the bridge of her nose lightly, sighing in exasperation before pushing her way to the front and making her way over to the Jonin. "Do me a favour, Hayate-nii, and please recite to me what Yugao-nee and I have been _repeatedly_ telling you," the Genin growled under her breath as she pressed a chakra-cloaked hand to his chest. The chakra was a rustic orange colour instead of the usual green, but it seemed to soothe his cough.

Hayate cleared this throat, looking sheepish. "Um... to not strain myself?"

Naruko scowled up at him. "You know you have to adhere to the specific resting period between healing sessions if you want to get rid of this chronic cough. I swear, boys these days..." Hayate looked thoroughly chastised and faintly relieved when she didn't say another word until the chakra faded from her hand. Naruko stepped back with her hands on her hips, fierce cerulean eyes blazing with a protective fury. "Hayate Gekkō," she started, causing said Jonin to blanch at the use of his full name, "if you continue straining yourself like this before your resting period is over, I will not hesitate to slap two hundred of my original Paralysis seals on you and dump you on a hospital bed until the rest of your healing sessions are over and done with."

Hayate's jaw fell ajar at the threat that he knew Naruko would no doubt carry out, while the Hokage tilted his hat to hide his grin. Naruko didn't look at all fazed by the aghast expression on the Jonin's face. "And I'm sure Yugao-nee would be more than happy to cooperate with me," the blonde added pointedly, causing Hayate's face to drop.

"Fine," the Jonin muttered almost sourly under his breath. He cleared his throat and faced the crowd of Genin once more as Naruko returned to her place between her teammates. "As I was saying: we will be carrying out a preliminary round leading to the third exam."

"P-Preliminary?" Sakura echoed, blinking blankly at the Jonin.

"What do you mean "preliminary"?" Shikamaru exclaimed. "Why aren't we doing the next exam as the remaining test-takers?"

Hayate sighed. "This time around, perhaps the first and second exams were easy, so there are too many people left. In accordance with the rules of the Chuunin Exams, a preliminary will be held in order to reduce the number of people advancing."

"N-No way!" Ino squeaked, eyes wide.

"As Hokage-sama said before, many guests will be coming to the third exam, most notably the Yondaime Kazekage—"

Naruko and Fuu noted that Gaara looked particularly displeased, while his siblings were merely indifferent.

"—the Yondaime Mizukage—"

Fuu's face was a mix of hope and excitement while Naruko and Gaara exchanged smirks; they forgot Fuu had no idea that Yagura was the Mizukage, so she was probably hoping for either him or Utakata to be in the platoon of shinobi that always accompanied a Kage. They would have to remember to bring a camera to take a shot of her face when she found out what exactly their beloved older brothers were now.

"—and the Yondaime Raikage."

Naruko's eyebrows flew to her hairline; Kumo was coming? Konoha's relationship with that Hidden Village was particularly strained after they had attempted kidnapping the young Hyuuga heiress. She idly wondered if either Bee or her mother could possibly one of be the bodyguards, unless the Raikage was like Yagura and only had one. From what she knew about the Yondaime Raikage, he was rather powerful. Naruko suppressed a smile at the thought of Killer Bee being Raikage while his solitary bodyguard was Yugito. She almost sweatdropped at the mental image; ' _On second thought, Kumo would almost definitely deteriorate within a week under Killer Bee's reign..._ '

"So we can't have pointless matches, and our time is limited as well," Hayate continued to explain. "Therefore, those of you not in top physical condition and who wish to drop out now, please speak up. The preliminary will begin immediately, so—"

" _Immediately?"_ Kiba repeated incredulously. Naruko reached over and slapped his head upside down, successfully quieting the rowdy Inuzuka.

"But we finally made it through the second exam..." Sakura sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She was feeling a headache coming on.

"This is a pain..." Shikamaru grumbled from behind Ino.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention this, but it will be individual battles from now on," Hayate added. "It is your decision, so feel free to raise your hands and drop out."

' _Who in their right mind would quit?'_ Sasuke questioned almost incredulously. He hadn't come this far, to only come this far. He winced and grabbed his shoulder.

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered worriedly. Naruko glanced back at her teammate's whisper, her brow furrowing in concern as Sasuke's face screwed up in pain, clenching his shoulder so tight his knuckles turned white.

' _The waves of pain are coming faster_ ,' Sasuke noted through gritted teeth.

"Sasuke, you should quit these preliminaries," Sakura whispered quickly. She sensed more than saw Sasuke's eyes widen in shock. Naruko remained calm as she observed her seemingly-volatile teammate. "L-Look, you haven't been yourself ever since you got bit by that Orochimaru guy. That bruise hurts even now, right? At this rate..." Her mind unwillingly flashed back to back in the Forest of Death, from the moment Orochimaru bit Sasuke's neck to when he had, for lack of better terminology, transformed. "Please... please quit."

Hiruzen observed their exchange. "I knew it," he murmured through the pipe in his mouth.

"What should we do?" Ibiki asked, his eyes trained on that particular Genin team. He noted that Naruko appeared to be rather calm about the situation, though the subtle furrowing of her brow and narrowed eyes indicated her mind gears were already whirring.

"We should remove him from the exams and isolate him with ANBU bodyguards on him," Anko answered at once, knowing all too well the effects of the Snake Sannin's Curse Mark. "We should recommend that he retire immediately."

"He's not the kind of type to obey just like that..."

Anko narrowed her eyes at Kakashi, who didn't appear all that fazed at the discovery.

"After all, he's of the Uchiha Clan," the one-eyed Jonin reminded.

"What're you talking nonsense about?" Anko's voice rose as she started to lose her temper. "I'll make him stop by force if needed!" She forced herself to lower her voice. "The Curse Mark responds even when one is just building up chakra and attempts to forcibly extract his strength." She reached up to cover her own mark. "It's a prohibited jutsu that eats into the body of the one who uses the jutsu." She turned back to look at the Uchiha, who appeared to be considering his pink-haired teammate's request; even Hinata Hyuuga was looking at him in clear concern. "It's a wonder the kid is even enduring it. He should really already be dead."

Naruko resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately... sensitive hearing had its ups and downs. But honestly, would it kill Kakashi to not antagonize Anko for at least one day? But then again, it wasn't like said kunoichi was doing much to keep a keep that temper of hers in check. Although... Naruko chewed her lower lip. She understood why this was a sensitive topic for the kunoichi. The blonde hadn't even wanted to tell Anko that she was attempting to develop a seal that would remove or, at the very least, neutralize the Curse Mark. She hadn't wanted to get Anko's hopes up, only to let her down, as she knew many other seal masters had done.

She was drawn from her thoughts when she heard Hiruzen let out an, "Oh?" and turned to see Kabuto's hand in the air. All eyes turned to Kabuto, who was smiling sheepishly. "Excuse me... I'll quit."

Hayate blinked at him for a moment before flipping pages on his clipboard. "Let's see... Kabuto Yakushi of Konoha, correct? Then, you may step back."

"Hai."

Naruko narrowed her eyes at him, but her ears twitched so her eyes zeroed in on Ibiki, Anko and the Sandaime.

 **"Kit, listen to them carefully. Something's up with him."**

' _No need to tell me twice_.'

 **"Shukaku and Chomei have also told Gaara and Fuu to do the same."**

"I've seen that face a few times," Hiruzen mused aloud, face uncharacteristically serious. "As I recall, he dropped out of the main battle before, as well. What in the world is he thinking?"

Ibiki shifted to look at his T&I colleague. "Anko."

The purple-haired kunoichi quickly brought up her own clipboard. "Kabuto Yakushi — according to the data, he failed six times in a row."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about his background?"

"From his time in the Academy, he was a student who didn't really stand out and his grades were ordinary. He finally passed the graduation exam on his third try. After that, as for the missions he carried out, two C-ranks and fourteen D-ranks." She paused before adding her own opinion, "It's not a battle record to write home about." Her eyes hesitantly moved from the paper to the Hokage. "However..."

"However?" Hiruzen prodded patiently.

"It's about _before_ the Academy."

The Sandaime's eyes widened imperceptibly. "Hmm?"

"Do you remember the story about the one boy brought back from the Kikyo Pass battle?"

The Hokage dipped his head slightly in a nod. "I remember. As I recall, I heard an enemy boy survivor at the battlefield was taken back by a Jonin from the medical unit." His eyes focused on the silver-haired boy. "So he's that boy?"

' _Kikyo Pass battle?'_ Naruko repeated. ' _What's that? I've never heard of it._ '

 **"The Kikyo Pass battle was during the Third Shinobi War,"** Kurama answered. **"However... call me a cliché or whatever, but I sense something's not right about this story. It seems _fabricated_. It's too convenient. A boy from the enemy's side is the only survivor and so was taken in by medics to be raised as a Konoha shinobi?" **The Bijuu snorted. **"Who in their right minds would think of such a thing, let alone agree to the idea?"**

Naruko silently agreed.

Hayate cleared his throat. "Now, then, are there no others who will quit?"

Naruko's eye twitched as she noticed rather significant bags under the Jonin's eyes. ' _As soon as this whole preliminary thing is over, you can be sure I'm going to_ throttle _him._ '

 **"Yugao won't be happy about you throttling her boyfriend,"** Kurama commented dryly; he was endlessly amused by his host's current life. Out of all three hosts — Mito, Kushina and now Naruko — the third was definitely his favourite.

' _Oh, I'm sure she won't mind once I tell her what he's been doing_ ,' the blonde assured him.

Sakura made to raise her hand at Hayate's question, but it was slapped down by Sasuke. He was gripping her wrist in a vice-like hold, staring unflinchingly into her eyes as he ordered, "Be quiet about the bruise."

Sakura glared back with just as much conviction. "Why are you acting so tough?" she demanded quietly. "You don't have to keep this up. We—"

"This is none of your business," Sasuke hissed. Sakura's eyes widened, visibly taken aback at the harsh tone. Sasuke didn't notice. "I've told you before — I'm an avenger. This is not just a mere exam to me. The Chuunin business has nothing to do with me." Sasuke paused, closing his eyes briefly. "' _Am I strong?'_ All I want is the answer to that. By fighting with those who are strong. And the strong are here. I will not allow even you to take that path away from me."

Naruko rolled her eyes and casually took a half-step backwards... and stomped her foot hard on Sasuke's. The Uchiha bit back a shout of pain, whirling around to glare at his other teammate. It had no effect on her; Naruko met his gaze boredly. "You're a bloody massive idiot, you know that?" she stated simply. Sasuke's eyes widened. "And if you recall, _I_ told _you_ before: Itachi is your blood; your family." She shook her head, sighing through her nose in dismay. "I thought I already got it through your thick skull—" she accented this with a light whack to his temple, "—that true intentions are hidden beneath outward appearances. It is an older sibling's instinct to be borderline overprotective over the younger, and they would do anything — even play the role of a villain — to ensure their survival." Her eyes softened. "So why keep up that front, teme? We're both worried about you. So for once in your life, suck it up and accept that there are people out there who care for you, and want you to have something better than vengeance on your mind."

"Naruko," Sasuke said slowly, closing his eyes for a brief moment before giving her a small quirk of the lip. "Thank you." Naruko nodded once, and the Uchiha added, "But I want to fight you too, one day."

Naruko narrowed her eyes playfully. "As long as it's not to the death."

Hiruzen breathed out a puff of smoke, watching Team 7's interactions. "What Orochimaru said is weighing on my mind. I will let Sasuke do the test, and see how things go."

"Wha—?" Anko sputtered in disbelief. "H-Hokage-sama!"

"However," Hiruzen continued, "if the Curse Mark opens and the power gets even a little bit out of control, get in there and stop it."

"Alright," Ibiki agreed.

"But—!" Anko stopped when she felt someone's gaze on her back, and turned to see a familiar pair of blue eyes trained on her. Naruko dipped her head slightly in reassurance or assent — Anko wasn't really sure — and the kunoichi sighed as she turned back to the Sandaime and her superior. "I understand," she conceded begrudgingly.

Hayate glanced back at them, and then at the Genin. "Now then, we will begin the preliminaries. The preliminaries to come will be one-on-one individual battles. In other words — actual battle format. There are now exactly twenty people, so we will conduct ten battles. The winners will be able to advance to the third exam. There are no rules at all." At the inquiring gazes, he clarified, "You will fight until someone dies, collapses, or admits defeat." He paused. "And... please admit defeat right away if you don't want to die."

Naruko's eye twitched; ' _No sugar honey iced tea, Sherlock_.'

"However, in case I judge that a match is over... er, I don't particularly want to needlessly increase dead bodies, so I will intervene and stop the match, or something to that effect." Hayate and Anko both sweatdropped as soon as the words left the Tokubetsu Jonin's mouth, feeling irritation practically rolling off their favourite blonde Leaf gremlin; it was identical to the same irritation as when Anko was taunting the Genin outside the Forest of Death. Hayate quickly continued, "What holds the key to your destinies is..." He turned to look at Anko, who nodded.

She spoke into her mic, "Open it."

A panel in the wall slowly retracted, revealing a black screen. It was rather anti-climactic, if you asked any of the Rookie 9.

"...this. The names of the two foes will be randomly selected and displayed on this electronic signboard." Hayate turned back to the candidates with a stern expression. "Now then, let's get right down to it and announce the first two names for the first battle."

Anticipation and stress levels rose high in the air as the screen lit up yellow for a moment before returning to black, and names started to flash by at blinding speed.

 **Yoroi Akado**

 **VS**

 **Sasuke Uchiha**

Sasuke's lips twitched upwards. ' _To think it'd be so soon..._ ' His eye momentarily closed as his hand shot up to cover the bruise that was still throbbing. He quickly recovered, smirking cockily at the signboard.

Naruko's eye twitched as she glanced back at her stubborn teammate. ' _If that idiot so much as_ thinks _of using the Curse Mark, so help me—_'

 **"You'll tear him limb from limb?"** Kurama yawned. **"Well that settles it — my dear Kit, you have definitely been spending way too much time with me."**

' _It's not like I have a choice,_ ' Naruko retorted in amusement. ' _We do share residence of my body._ '

 **"Yes,"** Kurama rolled his eyes, **"no need to remind me of _that_."**

' _Oh, don't be like that,_ ' Naruko teased, ' _you and I both know you love me._ '

 **"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kit."**

"I couldn't ask for more," a shinobi that was on Kabuto's team murmured from behind the cloth that hid the lower half of his face.

Gaara, having heard the man, shot a suspicious look his way before it switched to concern as he saw Sasuke grasping at his shoulder. Naruko appeared to have a well-hidden murderous intent in her eyes; one that he and Fuu knew all too well.

"Now then," Hayate said loudly, "the two displayed on the signboard, come forward."

Sasuke made to move forward, but was halted by circulation-preventing grips on both his wrists.

"You so much as _think_ about using that lanta-damned Curse Mark and I promise, you will find it impossible to move even a finger for at least five months," Sakura muttered into Sasuke's ear.

"And if you actually use it, even Kami won't be able to help you once I'm done with you," Naruko added just as quietly.

" _Capsiche?"_ both girls growled.

"C-Capische," the Uchiha quickly agreed, doing a mix between a wince and a gulp. He knew that, since the threat came from Naruko Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, it was anything _but_ empty.

"Good luck~" the pinkette smiled sweetly as she let go of his wrist.

"Go kick some ass," the blonde gave him her typical Uzumaki Grin, pushing him slightly towards Hayate.

"For the first battle, Yoroi Akado and Sasuke Uchiha have been selected." For some reason, Hayate found it necessary to announce the opponents even though everyone in the room was literate. "No objections?"

"No," both candidates answered without hesitation.

' _I have an objection,_ ' Sakura thought sourly. She reached forward to grasp Naruko's hand; the blonde squeezed back reassuringly.

"Now then, we will begin the first match." Hayate raised his voice, "Everyone other than the two foes, please move to the upper area."

The Genin obeyed; Naruko shot Hayate a look that she hoped conveyed everything she wanted him to know. Hayate nodded once at her, his eyes flickering between Anko and Naruko. The girl narrowed her eyes in understanding, and resisted Sakura's faint attempts to tug her towards the stairs when she saw Kakashi approaching. The pinkette raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively, but stayed behind patiently.

"Sasuke," Kakashi lowered his voice as he paused, "don't use the Sharingan."

Sasuke's eyes widened, before his features slipped back into their typical smirk. "So, you knew?"

"If that Curse Mark on your neck gets out of control, it could endanger your life," Team 7's sensei informed him sternly.

"I believe it," Sasuke agreed.

"Well, the match will be called off at that time. I'll be coming in to stop it, so good luck." Kakashi started walking again, and Naruko allowed Sakura to pull her towards the upper area to join the rest of their friends.

Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief as his obsidian gaze followed his sensei's back. ' _Called off?'_ He tentatively touched the "bruise". ' _It seems this Curse Mark thing is responding to my chakra._' His mind flashed back to how an intense pain had blossomed at the bruise's location when he attempted to use the Sharingan in the Forest of Death. ' _If I carelessly build up chakra, it would extract my spiritual energy, and bring out the chakra in my body to no end_.' He looked up at his opponent. ' _In other words, in this match, I can hardly use even my regular jutsu, not to mention the Sharingan. Now then... how will I go?'_

All of the teams with their respective sensei were watching from the upper area, with varying levels of anticipation all the way to boredom.

Kakashi observed his student carefully. ' _Don't act rashly, Sasuke_.'

Hayate looked first at Sasuke, and then at Yoroi. Seeing that both shinobi were both ready, he announced, "Now then, please begin."

* * *

"Hinata!"

Naruko, Sasuke, Sakura and Lee dropped down from the upper area and ran over to the Hyuuga heiress, who was being laid down on the ground by her Jonin sensei.

"Hinata," Naruko crouched by her side, blue eyes full of concern, "what's wrong?"

"N-Naruko... I—"

Sakura touched Naruko's shoulder, and she quickly moved out of the way so Sakura could do a basic medical diagnosis. "Cardiac arrest," the pinkette muttered as her hands instantly lit up in a cloak of green chakra, hovering over Hinata's chest.

"Will she be okay?" Naruko murmured, trying not to break Sakura's concentration.

"It's serious," Sakura answered grimly, "but she'll be fine." She flashed a reassuring smile at her teammate. "Especially if I have anything to do about it." Despite her words, the pinkette fought to keep from glaring daggers at the older Hyuuga, ' _Was he_ trying _to kill her?'_

Naruko bit the inner flesh of her cheek, hard. She stood up, and Sasuke appeared by her side in his usual, silent fashion. Lee was over with his sensei and teammate. The blonde tried not to glare at the older Hyuuga; the match had been called, and Neji Hyuuga still continued to assault Hinata. It had taken Gai, Kakashi, Hayate and Kurenai to stop him. But try as she might, Naruko couldn't quite extinguish that rebellious spark of rage that flared when she recalled how often Hinata would speak highly of her "Neji-nii-san".

She felt Sasuke press a hand to the small of her back, both as a gesture of comfort and a warning to not do anything rash. Despite his actions, Naruko could feel a similar rage simmering beneath his indifferent exterior. And she understood him, just as he did her; ever since that day where the three of them had been early to the Academy, the Uchiha, Uzumaki and Hyuuga steadily became closer, until the day of their team assignments. And even then, they remained close friends, and Sakura ended up befriending Hinata as well. It made sense, seeing as Hinata was with two-thirds of Team 7 already.

And the state that Neji had reduced Hinata to filled Team 7 with a burning, righteous fury.

Kurenai had called for the medics, and once Sakura had done what she could, Hinata was lifted onto a stretcher and carried away.

Sakura rubbed her hands on her dress, frowning in distaste. "I did as much as I could," she said quietly as she came to stand beside her teammates. "Her condition has stabilized." The pinkette winced. "I may have used up more chakra than necessary, but that's alright," she smiled tightly. "It was well worth it."

"You're shivering," Sasuke frowned, and reached over to sandwich Sakura's hands between his as he started to rub his hands in an effort to warm them up.

Naruko glanced down and noticed blood — _Hinata's blood_ — by her feet. Her usually bright blue eyes hardened. "Neji."

The Hyuuga prodigy looked over at her.

"When we fight in the third exam... a match of a failure against a gifted genius..." Naruko knelt down and dipped her fingers in the red liquid, turning to face Neji with her hand held out in a fist as Hinata's blood coated her palm. "I will win no matter what."

Neji's expression didn't move, but Naruko caught the flicker of something she couldn't identify in his eyes. The Hyuuga and Uzumaki remained in a staring match for a few moments before Gai moved.

The Taijutsu Master gently covered Naruko's outstretched fist with his own, larger hand while his other hand dropped onto her head. "I am proud of you for your dedication to your friend, Naru," he said quietly with an affectionate smile, using her pet name from so long ago. "I apologize for my inability to stop Neji before it went too far. Rest assured, I will talk to him." Gai glanced over his shoulder at the younger shinobi. "Neji has some... he holds resentment towards the main family for what they have done to him. And to his father. I cannot ask you to not be angry with him, but I do ask that you at least try to understand where he comes from. He holds a burden similar to your own."

Naruko frowned, but nodded. A quiet and serious Gai was a little disconcerting, but surprisingly, it had always been him who was the best at calming her down.

Gai released her, and Naruko walked back over to her teammates. Sakura wordlessly took her hand and used her dress to wipe the blood from her hands. At the questioning look, the pinkette shrugged, "It was red to begin with." Naruko nodded, and allowed them to practically guide her to the stairs.

"Hey, Choji," Shikamaru muttered, "you're in trouble. Only the strong ones are left." His sharp gaze shifted around at the remaining candidates who had yet to fight, starting with Dosu. "That guy's probably the strongest of the Hidden Sound. And Lee is apparently strong enough to take on Sasuke." He glanced over at the redheaded Suna shinobi, "And particularly that Sand guy. He's probably the most dangerous one—"

"Really?" Ino raised a brow. "Did you not see how he was acting around Naruko and that green-haired girl?"

"And haven't you noticed that he only acts like that around those two?" Shikamaru shot right back. "Otherwise, even his own teammates appear afraid of him. And he has that manipulation of sand that even I have never heard of."

Choji's knees started shaking and he slid down the railing until he was crouched with his hands gripping the bars. "I-I don't care!" He was on the verge of tears. "I plan to forfeit right away if that happens..."

"So that means," an amused voice made the Ino-Shika-Cho look up, "you plan to forego all-you-can-eat-BBQ too, then."

"What?" Choji cried in alarm, before falling into a pout. "Come on..."

Asuma Sarutobi, Team 10's Jonin sensei, let out a yelp when a hand reached up to slap the back of his head. At the same time he turned around to see who had assaulted him, a quick hand had the opportunity to snatch the cigarette that had previously been between his teeth.

As Asuma turned to face her, Naruko noted in amusement that he resembled Choji with a pout on his face. "No smoking," she quipped as she dropped the cigarette to crush beneath her foot. "And bribing an Akimichi with an all-you-can-eat-BBQ is all-time new low for you, Asu."

"Naru," Asuma all but whined. "That was my last cigarette!"

"Good," the blonde folded her arms, "you should quit anyway."

"Do I _want_ to know what your relationship is?" Shikamaru drawled with a sigh, though there was slight curiosity in his eyes.

Naruko tossed a grin over her shoulder, "It's the same as my relationship with the ANBU and the two Jonin from the T&I Department."

"A simple "no" would've sufficed," the Nara deadpanned.

"But then where would be the fun in that answer?" Naruko asked as she leaned against Asuma. The man held a steadying hand on her shoulder, and grinned like a child on Christmas Day when the blonde begrudgingly handed him a brand-new pack of cigarettes. "No smoking until you're out of this building," she smacked his hand as he made to pull one out. Asuma pouted again, but obeyed; one simply did not mess with an Uzumaki.

"Don't worry, Choji," Asuma smiled reassuringly as he came to kneel down by the Akimichi. "If things start getting ugly, I'll step in and stop the fight like how I did for Hinata. Okay?" He grinned again before reciting quickly, "Prime beef tongue, short ribs, you can eat what you want—"

' _Don't dangle food in front of him!'_ Ino thought with a frown, crossing her arms.

' _Besides,_ he _didn't step in and stop the fight for Hinata,_ ' Shikamaru recalled, watching his sensei and teammate with an unimpressed raised eyebrow.

But Choji's eyes were already on fire and he shot up, chanting loudly, "BBQ! Alright, BBQ! All you can eat!"

From across the area, Kankuro warily eyed Gaara, who was wide-eyed and shaking. ' _He doesn't look good_.'

Baki was also observing Suna's jinchuuriki with a wary air, however Temari was watching her youngest brother with nothing but concern in her teal eyes. ' _Watching the last fight... did_ it _get stirred up?'_

Hayate coughed deliberately, and all attention was immediately returned to him. "We will now resume the preliminary matches."

"Okay!" Gai's voice boomed across the otherwise-silent area. "You'll be up this time for sure. Go for it, Lee!" He stuck his "good guy pose", teeth shining as he shot a thumbs up at his pupil who looked uncannily similar to himself.

Naruko's forehead fell to the railing. ' _Good lanta, I want to hit him so badly... but I already used up my quota of how many sibling-figures I'm allowed to abuse in one day._ ' She mentally shook her fist, ' _Curse you for creating that rule, Kakashi Hatake! It's not my fault I observe things like an actual shinobi and have a slight tendency to overuse sarcasm_.'

"No!"

"Huh?" Sakura, Naruko and Gai stared at the taijutsu-user in surprise.

"Seeing as I've come this far, I'd rather be the last!"

' _Is Lee_ sulking?' Sakura thought in surprise, resisting the urge to actually ask the question aloud. While he did seem rather fond of her — perhaps due to their shared history — she wasn't exactly sure how to approach him as of yet, but hoped they could somehow rebuild their friendship. But that wouldn't happen if the first question she asked him was, " _Are you sulking?"_

The signboard suddenly chimed with the new match.

Gaara sighed — ' _I'm too tired for this crap_.' — and formed a Ram sign. In a rather unnecessary dramatic move, he appeared in the area in a whirlwind of sand.

Fuu's eye twitched as she started to comb through her hair to rid it of sand grains. ' _I'm going to kill that stupid panda once this is over,_ ' she griped. ' _Stupid sand grains. You'd think he could be at least a little considerate of those who don't get to manipulate sand and_ stay dirty _when it gets in their hair._ '

"Hurry up and get down here—"

Choji let out a shriek, and almost everyone in the Rookie 9 who remained in the area started to freak out. "Safe!" he declared loudly.

"Hey!"

"Don't do anything misleading, idiot!"

Sakura sweatdropped; ' _Both of his teammates just punched him in the head... and in the same place, too_.' She looked up at the signboard, and then instantly whirled around. "Rock!"

But he was grinning as he stretched his right leg with a few kicks. "It worked! If you say you want to go last, then you won't be last. It's an application of the same law that says a stone thrown to hit a telephone pole will miss, and a stone thrown to miss will be a direct hit!" He switched to his arms with deliberate punches.

"Right! That's my student!" Gai exclaimed joyfully.

"I absolutely did not want to go last!" Lee proclaimed. "I threw them a beauty of a curve!"

' _Threw_ whom _a curve?'_ Sasuke was seriously questioning the mentality of both teacher and student.

"Okay, so let me give you a little piece of "nice" advice." Gai leaned down to Lee's ear. "Probably no one has noticed yet, but... that gourd is suspicious!"

Naruko peered at her sensei, her eyes conveying everything; ' _Please let me hit him. Just once._ ' Kakashi, while annoyed at his "rival's" antics, shook his head in amusement. The blonde let her head bang onto the railing again, however her eyes found Gaara's and she couldn't stop a smile from stretching across her face.

"I see!"

"Quit with the notes!" Neji snapped, obviously irritated at how long his teammate was taking to get down to the arena. "You're not going to have time to read them during the match, fool."

"Alright! Go, Lee!" Gai hollered, and Lee vaulted over the railing to land opposite Gaara.

Naruko could read the faint disgust mixed with amusement and skepticism, though he put up his guard nonetheless. To most people, Gaara's expression was the same. But as his siblings, she and Fuu had learned to read his stoic expressions and were able to discern the emotions there, plain as day. It was one of the reasons why she was able to somewhat read Sasuke so quickly in the beginning, despite how little time they initially spent together at first.

Lee had a determined smile on his face as he assumed his signature taijutsu stance. "I am very happy to be squaring off with you so early in the match."

Gaara didn't respond at all; Naruko was fairly sure it was because he simply didn't know how to appropriately do so.

Lee's hand flashed in front of his face, and a moment later, Gaara's cork dropped to his feet. He hadn't even flinched. "Please do not be in such a hurry."

Naruko could tell Gaara was secretly impressed at his reflexes. Naruko herself wasn't surprised, seeing how she had trained with Gai before. But what she was more surprised about was that Gaara actually had some sort of trick to test the reflexes of one who specialized in taijutsu. She had to admit, it was a smart move on his part. Not that she was sure how much good that little bit of information would do Gaara.

Her eyes flickered to Sakura, who was looking rather concerned, jade eyes trained on the green-clad miniature version of Might Gai. Her eyebrow raised, ' _Oh? Could there be something there?'_ Deciding it really wasn't the best time to ask, Naruko filed it away and kept silent.

Hayate raised his hand. "Now then, the ninth match..." His hand fell. "Begin!"

Lee rushed at Gaara; "Leaf Hurricane!" His leg smashed into a wave of sand that had come up to protect the redhead, who had barely moved, let alone look fazed by the attack. The sand rose up and dove at Lee, as if to bury him alive, but the Leaf Genin quickly backflipped away. He paused to catch his breath, watching as the sand slowly receded back into the redhead's gourd.

"Is that _sand?"_ Ino's eyes were wide.

' _What an unusual jutsu_ ,' Kakashi noted. He glanced over at his team; while somewhat impressed at the display, they weren't all that surprised at the shinobi's manipulation of sand. If they had known about this beforehand, why did none of them see fit to mention it to him? Or to Lee, for that matter?

Sakura slumped. "I forgot to mention that to him..."

Naruko patted her shoulder. "Well if it's any consolation, Gaara won't seriously injure him." She paused. "Unless..."

The pinkette looked at her in concern. "Unless?"

Naruko pursed her lips. "I want to say it won't happen, but Suna's sealing masters are terrible." She abruptly turned to her teammate, "Listen: I can't promise nothing will happen. He's riled up enough as it is, through no fault of his own. But if something does happen, I need you trust that I can take care of it. Don't try to jump in like you did with Hinata. Gaara's in a whole other league... it'll take more than four Jonin to stop him."

"But it only takes you?" Sasuke retorted from her other side.

Naruko turned to him. "Only because he will recognize me. Even subconsciously, he will never hurt me." A faint smile, albeit tinged with bitterness, graced her face. "We go too far back for that to ever happen."

Sasuke bit his tongue, and returned to observing the match. So far, none of Lee's taijutsu attacks had managed to penetrate or circumvent the redhead's automatic sand protection. And he just barely managed to avoid another wave of sand that threatened to crush him with its intensity. It wasn't looking good for Lee, no matter how fast he was.

"Lee, take them off!"

"B-But Gai-sensei—!" Lee cried in surprise. "You told me to do that only to protect a large group of very important people!"

Gai grinned. "It's quite all right! I give you permission!" He stuck out his classic thumbs-up pose. Obeying, Lee pulled down his orange leg-warmers, revealing—

" _You did not!"_ Naruko screeched, vaulting over to smash her fist into Gai's bowl-cut. "Why didn't you tell me earlier, baka!" She continued pounding at him with a flurry of attacks. "Do you _know_ how much easier it would have been if you just came to me? I have weight seals that are outrageously more effective than that old, out-of-date _thing!_ To call that... that _atrocious monstrosity_ any kind of seal is pure blasphemy!"

As Gai tried to fend off her attacks, the surrounding Jonin and two jinchuuriki sweatdropped as the same thought ran through their minds; ' _I forgot how intense she can be about fūinjutsu..._ '

When Lee finally stood up, he looked a bit happier. "Alright, now I can move easier!" He dropped the weights, and the sheer amount smashed into the ground with enough force to create twin craters. Everyone was visibly shocked — except Gaara; he remained typically unfazed — but Hayate's left eye gave a slight twitch; he was _so_ going to hear about _that_ later.

Naruko rounded on Gai, who instantly fled behind Kakashi. The one-eyed Jonin had a hand to his masked mouth, "That's a bit extreme, Gai, wouldn't you say?" the Hatake questioned with a nonchalant air, despite the somewhat wrong image of having a trembling man that was clad in green spandex hiding behind him.

Gaara's eyes widened as Lee appeared to teleport around the area due to his boost of speed. His sand only barely blocked Lee's taijutsu moves. As it was, the automatic sand protection was thin and Lee's fists and feet managed to pierce the sand protection, though they never hit its mark. It was amazing to watch, despite how Gaara remained uninjured.

Fuu tried to smother a giggle. ' _Poor Panda-chan, he looks so confused._ '

 **"I'd like to see _you_ try and go up against that, Fuu,"** Chomei commented dryly.

' _No thanks,_ ' Fuu chuckled, ' _I'm good staying as a spectator._ '

Lee was somersaulting at breakneck speed above Gaara, spinning so fast he was nothing but a green blur. And then he dropped, his leg outstretched and slamming into Gaara's head.

Temari and Kankuro looked veritably horrified and shocked, while Naruko and Fuu were both stunned. The only two people who had ever gotten past Gaara's Sand Shield in combat had been Yugito and Yagura. Naruko herself could occasionally give the sand the slip when she tacked one of her experimental seals onto it, but even then it was rare that she would land a hit. Even Roshi, the most experienced of them all, had trouble getting past his ultimate defense. Yugito, as Matatabi's jinchuuriki, had a different aspect of the Fire affinity, similar to Naruko's and yet different. Her blue flame was able to melt Gaara's sand into glass, rendering it useless. Before she figured that out, however, Yugito had relied on her advantage of being fast — just like Lee — again due to being the jinchuuriki of the Two-Tailed Cat. Similarly, Yagura basically teleported around Gaara using a varied version of Water Release: Aqua Mirror Technique in order to confuse the younger boy until he was able to land a knockout strike with his staff. As for Naruko, it was only through years of having lived with both Ritsu and Gaara that enabled her to even have a chance at getting through the ultimate defense, as she had lived ten years discovering the ins and outs of it. But for Lee, who had only just met Gaara, to have landed a direct hit him already...

"Looks like speed is the ultimate weakness of his sand," Fuu murmured, leaning so far forward Naruko had to hold her shirt in order to ensure she didn't fall into the arena.

"This isn't good," the blonde grimaced at the bleeding cut on Gaara's cheek. "Shukaku won't like that... he's fiercely protective of Gaara. Maybe even more so than Kurama is of me."

"Doubt it," Fuu snorted, "Shukaku just has less control than Kurama."

"Oh, I'm not denying that," Naruko agreed, letting her eyes fall back to the two boys below.

"Youth is _an explosion!"_ Gai practically bellowed, rejoicing in his student's victory, no matter how minor it was.

And Lee was moving again, fast enough that Gaara couldn't even see him. He was sent flying back from a punch to the cheek. Gaara slowly stood up, sand pooling around him as it steadily poured from the gourd on his back.

"Uh-oh..." Kankuro muttered, eyes wide.

Naruko winced as she heard the shouts of disbelief from her fellow candidates. ' _Kurama, I'm worried_ ,' she told her tenant as she registered the almost-maniacal grin on her brother's face. This particular scene was looking uncomfortably familiar. ' _How's Shukaku?'_

 **"...let's just say you have a right to be worried,"** Kurama answered in a guarded tone.

' _Shit_.' Naruko closed her eyes. ' _How long?'_

 **"Don't know. As you saw, Gaara doesn't have a full-on injury since he's using his Sand Armour to keep Lee's attacks from directly hitting him for the time being."**

The sand was slowly drawing itself back onto Gaara, filling in the gaps of the armour-like sand that covered his body.

' _But the mere fact that he has to use the Sand Armour shows that he's under pressure,_' Naruko rebutted. ' _At this rate, Shukaku may snap_.'

 **"...ugh, I hate having insane brothers. Stupid raccoon, always causing unnecessary drama."**

Naruko rolled her eyes, ' _I'm sure any normal being would hate having insane brothers, too_.'

Realizing that his normal attacks will no longer work, Lee proceeded to use an attack recognized as Front Lotus on Gaara. For a brief moment, everyone was silent with shock before a few cheers rang out, believing Lee had won. However, Gaara's body turned brown and cracked, disintegrating into sand.

Naruko's eyebrow twitched, ' _Stop stealing my moves, you son of Hermes! Granted it's a sand clone and not a shadow clone... but still!'_

Gaara suddenly reappeared behind Lee, sand pouring off him like a waterfall. His Sand Armour was visibly cracked, and he was glaring at the Leaf Genin. He hunched over as his lips pulled back into a menacing grin, his hands slamming together into a Ram sign. Sand started flying up and out at Lee, striking him twice. The taijutsu-specialist-in-training barely blocked in time, and was knocked off his feet. He was visibly struggling to stand back up, but Gaara moved to attack before he was back on his feet.

' _Holy chalupas!'_ Naruko swore before shouting, "Lee, move!"

It was useless, as the sand of wave tossed Lee up and smashed him into the roof before letting him slump down to the ground. The sand was acting almost as if it was a living thing, acting on its own accord; it didn't allow Lee time to recover before crashing down on him again.

"Gaa-chan... he's toying with him," Fuu's eyes were wide. She had only seen Gaara like this a few times, and always Yugito and the rest of their jinchuuriki family had been around to contain him and bring him back. Otherwise Naruko was use the wild sand as her test subject for various seals while Kurama scolded Shukaku into reverting back.

"Why doesn't Lee dodge?" Sakura questioned, almost desperately. "With his speed, he should be able to dodge those attacks."

"It's not that he doesn't dodge," Gai answered solemnly, eyes narrowed in concern, "it's that he _can't_ dodge."

Naruko narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips, and released a loud, piercing four-note whistle. **(1)** Both Gaara and his sand froze, inches from Lee's battered body. The Sand shinobi looked up at his sister, and his head inclined as gratitude flickered in his eyes, his volatile chakra noticeably calming as Shukaku's increasing presence began to fade. Naruko nodded back at him, her tense shoulders relaxing as the sand swirled back to surround Gaara, and the redhead waited for Lee to collect himself before continuing.

Fuu smiled slightly, reaching out to grab Naruko's hand, who squeezed back reassuringly. That whistle had been the first warning that Gaara had whenever Shukaku's presence started to grow to alarming levels — it told the redhead to either calm down if he was agitated, or it brought him back to reality if he was too caught up in combat. In this particular case, it was the latter. Having a cracking seal probably didn't help in filtering Shukaku's influence on Gaara's perceptions, but they had worked out this system long ago, and most of the time it did the trick. However if Gaara continued to exhibit symptoms of losing control, the two girls would whistle in a sort of echoing, overlapping euphony until the other jinchuuriki came out to see what was wrong.

The Taki jinchuuriki was drawn out of the past by Naruko's teammate, Sakura, asking the sensei in green spandex, "What do you mean?" She was probably referring to the man's — Gai? — earlier admittance that their fellow Genin didn't dodge the sand simply because he couldn't. Fuu was somewhat relieved to see that the pinkette seemed more curious than nervous, now that the sand attacking Lee was visibly less ruthless than before.

"The Lotus is a double-edged sword," Kakashi answered his student in Gai's place, referring to the move Lee had used on Gaara's sand clone. "It's not a ninjutsu or genjutsu. It's a taijutsu, with high-speed movement. The load it puts on a person's body is beyond imagination. So right now, Lee's entire body is in so much pain that even moving is out of the question." His coal eye shifted to his longtime friend and rival. "Isn't that right, Gai?"

"But that's..." Sakura's eyes were wide as she jerked back to the railing, worry renewed. Despite his obvious fatigue, Lee managed to flip out the sand's reach, landing in a low crouch. Unable to take it anymore, Sakura cried, "Stop, Rock!" She ignored the surprised looks at her use of his other name, "If you fight any more, you'll die!" Her shoulders was trembling. ' _Please don't make me lose you again, Rock. I can't. Not after I just found you_.'

Lee glanced up at his cherry blossom, and smiled. When the wave of sand crashed on him, his body practically flickered out of the way, moving lithely around the area and avoiding the sand that was, once more, picking up speed. ' _Sensei is smiling and watching me... Sakura is watching me... and because of that, I can come back stronger! Stronger... stronger still!'_

Naruko bit down on the soft inner flesh of her cheek. ' _At this rate—!'_ Her eyes widened. ' _Lee's..._ smiling... _even though he's getting driven into a corner._ '

 **"Now who does that remind me of, I wonder,"** Kurama mused aloud. Naruko rolled her eyes at him but didn't grace him with a response, knowing exactly who he was referring to.

"Now he's the one doing the driving," Gai's voice was tinged with pride as he watched his pupil nimbly leap to the side to avoid the sand strikes. At Sakura's inquisitive sound, Gai turned with a smile, "The Lotus of the Leaf Village blossoms twice."

Sakura's eyes widened, recalling how, in the Forest of Death, Lee had said a similar thing; " _The Lotus of the Leaf Village blooms twice. When we meet again, I will have become a stronger man. I pledge it_."

"No, Gai!" Kakashi exclaimed in protest. "You haven't!"

Naruko jerked around, a similar train of thought running through her mind. She knew Might Gai. She knew his moves, all his secret aces up his sleeves. But she also knew the severe repercussions. Surely he couldn't have...?

Gai merely closed his eyes and nodded. "It is exactly as you imagine."

Kakashi's eye narrowed dangerously at him. "So that Genin... that boy can open the Eight Inner Gates in his body and use the Hidden Lotus."

Team 9's sensei didn't appear affected by Kakashi's disapproval, but he was noticeably more subdued as he confirmed, "That's right."

"This is incredible," Kakashi murmured before saying a little louder, "Gai, how many of the Eight Inner Gates can that boy open now?"

Gai closed his eyes. "Five gates."

Sakura glanced sharply at her sensei. "What exactly is it? These Eight Inner Gates and that Hidden Lotus?"

Gai answered her; "The Eight Inner Gates are "Limiter Releases" used in preparation for reaching the Hidden Lotus."

"A Limiter Release?" Sakura repeated.

Kakashi turned back to the match with a new agenda, raising his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. "That's right... in the chakra network where chakra flows, there are eight places where the chakra points are concentrated in each area of the body from the head area down — the Gate of Opening, Gate of Rest, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain, Gate of Closing, Gate of Joy, Gate of Shock and Gate of Death. These are called the Eight Inner Gates. These eight gates continually "limit" the amount of chakra flowing through the body. However, the Lotus' essence is to force the boundaries of these "limits" to open and bring out several tens of times the strength of the user's body."

"The Front Lotus opens only the first gate — the Gate of Opening," Naruko recited, "releasing the brains restraints to bring forth a person's muscles strength to its fullest. Right, Gai-sensei?"

"Correct, my young Padawan," Gai patted her head happily. "That's exactly the kind of technique it is. However, the Hidden Lotus... after forcing the stamina to increase at the second gate — the Gate of Rest — from the third gate, the Gate of Life, one enters the Hidden Lotus."

"But after using the Front Lotus, his body was in shambles," Sakura said in slight confusion and fear. "So if he uses a technique _beyond_ that..."

"That's right," Kakashi said quietly. He didn't look at his students; his Sharingan was focused only on Lee. "By opening all eight gates, one attains strength exceeding even the Hokage, but in return... one dies."

A soft gasp slipped through Sakura's lips. Naruko glanced sharply at Sasuke, who quickly moved in closer to Sakura for silent support. They didn't know the exact story behind Sakura and Lee, but their interactions were familiar enough that Naruko and Sasuke were able to deduce that they had, at one point, been very close.

Kakashi turned to Gai with a disapproving look in his eyes. "I don't intend to pry into what that boy means to you, or to tell you not to bring your personal feelings into play, but there _is_ a limit. I've misjudged you, Gai."

Gai stared back just as stonily. "And what do _you_ know about that boy? There is something important which that boy wants to prove and protect, even if it costs him his life. That's why I wanted to make him a man that could protect that thing. That's all there is."

Down below, an enormous burst of chakra flared from Lee, snatching everyone's attention.

"I don't know what you plan to do, but this is the end for you," Gaara growled quietly.

"That's true," Lee answered calmly. "In any case, it will be the end with the next." He closed his eyes. ' _Neji... Sasuke... Naruko... and..._ ' Smiling jade eyes paired with a curtain of bubblegum-pink hair. "There is no way I alone can lose in a place like this!" His bowl-cut hair was starting to lift. ' _Gai-sensei... please allow this! It is now!'_ Blue chakra started to leak and coat his being, his skin turning darker as veins bulged around his face, not unlike the activated Byakugan. ' _The time to carry through and protect one's Way of the Ninja! The Third Gate of Life — open!'_

To the spectators, there was only awe, shock, disbelief and pride to their respective individuals. Naruko was torn between awe and the need to bash both teacher and pupil's heads in. If Lee did survive and win this match, she'd tone down the talking-to. If he didn't... Gai was in for one hell of a beating, Taijutsu Master or not.

"He changed colour!" Sakura exclaimed softly. Even Neji had abandoned his stoic facade as he came forward to take a closer look at his teammate's match, a hint of curiosity flickering in his pale lavender eyes.

Naruko blinked. "He's red...?"

Kakashi's eyes were wide. ' _He opened the third gate... he's going to make his move._ '

As if reading his mind, Gai answered, "No, not yet."

Lee was almost doubled over, chakra whipping furiously around him and piling more damage to the area in addition to the damage Gaara's sand had previously. ' _And also... the fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain — open!'_

The candidates and proctor watched as Lee's strength was multiplied immensely; he proceeded to launch a powerful kick to Gaara's jaw, sending him flying into the air. Debris and dust flew in people's eyes, causing them to shy away from the match. Shikamaru spotted the Sand shinobi in the air; his Sand Armour was cracked. Lee didn't waste any time as he continuously beat Gaara with his Reverse Lotus.

Kakashi squinted at the boy; ' _His muscles have torn..._ '

Neji's eyes were wide, his Byakugan active as he attempted to follow his teammate's movements which were unbelievably fast. ' _Is that really Lee? When did he become like this?'_

"This is the end!" Lee roared as he descended upon Gaara. His body was already trembling with the strain put upon it from opening four gates, but nevertheless he continued, ' _The Fifth Gate of Closing... open!'_ He disappeared from right in front of Gaara to reappear a little lower, crashing his fist into the Sand Genin's solar plexus.

Gai was watching almost expressionlessly. ' _The Hidden Lotus... in other words, it's a high-speed continuous taijutsu that can't even be touched. The answer to take Neji down is that high-speed combination. There is no way that sand can keep up!'_ Gai narrowed his eyes. ' _This technique will be the last._ '

Lee yanked on the bandage that was wrapped around Gaara's torso and, with what could only be described as a war cry, smashed his right fist and foot into Gaara's body. "Hidden Lotus!"

However, as Gaara fell to the ground, he dispersed his sand gourd as a cushion to break his fall.

' _That's impossible..._ ' Gai's mouth was a ajar.

' _The gourd has turned to sand?'_ Kakashi stared in incredulity.

Naruko's eyebrows rose, though her face remained impassive. ' _Well_ that's _a new trick. When did that become part of his arsenal?'_

"Gaara!"

Naruko glanced over at the Suna shinobi clad in black, who was gripping the railing tightly as his eyes searched the dust cloud. There was an emotion on his painted face that wasn't quite worry, but very similar. She narrowed her eyes slightly. Something didn't add up. Clearly they cared for Gaara, despite their somewhat obvious fear of him. But Gaara wasn't someone to be feared, and if they did care for him, they would've known that. Unless... Naruko's eyes flickered from the arena and back to the Sand Siblings as understanding dawned on her. _Unless he was hiding how much he cared for them._

"Rock..." Sakura murmured, her jade eyes fixed on the green-clad figure who rolled until he was sprawled on his back. Even from here, she knew he was in a lot of pain.

As the dust finally cleared, they could see Gaara lying on a cushion of sand. And then he did the impossible — he staggered to his feet, and stretched a slightly-spasming arm out towards Lee.

' _Impossible!'_ Gai thought in alarm. ' _He can still stand after being hit with the Hidden Lotus?'_

The Konoha Genin attempted to crawl away from the sand that was slithering towards him, but his body wouldn't allow any more movement. The sand formed a rather large hand, and Naruko felt a wave of alarm and recognition from Shino Aburame.

The blonde frowned, ' _So Team 8 ran into the Suna team during the second phase... but why the strong reaction?'_ Naruko's eyes widened. ' _No!'_ Her cerulean blue orbs widened even further when she saw sand coiling around an injured Lee, and before she knew what she was doing, she had jumped over the railing and was rushing straight towards the jinchuuriki, nothing but a flash of yellow.

Gaara's growl stopped in his throat and his sand froze as he felt something barrel into his back, pushing him forward slightly because of the force. He stiffened when a hand rested on his head and another two on each of his shoulders.

Everyone, Genin and Jonin alike, almost stopped breathing. It was in less than a blink of an eye, but suddenly the Fourth Mizukage had his hand on the boy's head as he stood in front of Gaara to interrupt the flow of sand, which skirted around him as if the younger boy instinctively knew not to hurt him. Meanwhile, two shinobi who were distinctly from Kiri and Kumo — bodyguards of the Mizukage and Fourth Raikage, respectively — had a hand on each of Gaara's shoulders from their places on either side of him. The blonde, whiskered Leaf Genin was slowly emitting a translucent burnt-orange chakra cloak that, despite the ominous colour, seemed to soothe the Kazekage's youngest son.

Gaara froze as the familiar touch of his family members registered in his mind — _t_ _he hands of his brothers, the hug of his sister._ He faintly registered Kurama's demonic chakra as it enveloped all of them, pushing back on Shukaku's chakra and soothing the killing intent. He felt his sand lift and swerve to avoid hitting Yagura, who was directly in the path to reaching Lee before dropping to the ground, grain by grain.

Gaara's heart was beating erratically, Shukaku's influence over him still going strong. He feared for the lives of his family members, as they were all within very close range.

"Shouldn't you be down there too?" Sakura asked Fuu curiously, in an effort to ignore the frantic pounding in her chest; her heart appeared to be doing its best to break her ribcage.

The green-haired Taki kunoichi was watching her family intently, but a small, sad smile came over her face as she heard the pinkette's question. "Actually," she said quietly, "I'm not sure how much Naruko's told you about our family... but I came a lot later than Gaara and Naruko. A lot of our family were teenagers or young adults, and back then the only children were Naruko, Gaara and myself. They've been raising Naruko ever since she was born, and Gaara came when he was around six, I think. By the time I came, Gaara already had a handle on his Bijuu, and so he wasn't really prone to outbursts like these. I... wouldn't know how to help," she admitted.

Sakura blinked. The jinchuuriki had been raising Naruko ever since she was born? The kunoichi looked down; the family dynamic was indeed smooth and well-practiced. Even those who didn't know of their past bonds would realize there was a sort of system that only they knew in order to help the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi.

She turned back to Fuu and smiled, "I'm sure you help in your own way."

Fuu gave her a tight smile. "I know. I don't feel left out," she reassured Sakura, "it's just that the dynamic that they have, the first half, I'm not a part of it." A wicked grin stole across her face, "But you can bet, as sure as Naruko is a prankster, that I'm definitely part of the second half."

Sakura smiled, and the two girls returned their attention to below.

Naruko frowned slightly, arms firmly clasped around her brother's chest. She slightly increased the flowing of Kurama's chakra with a bit more urgency while simultaneously maintaining the soothing feel. Sensing his fear and overridden will, Naruko instinctively did the only thing that calmed Gaara down. It was something they had accidentally discovered when the redhead had first started training with them.

" _I remember tears streaming down your face_

 _When I said I'll never let you go._

 _When all those shadows almost killed your light._

 _I remember you said: "d_ _on't leave me here alone"._

 _But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight._ "

Naruko smiled to herself as she heard Gaara's heartbeat slow down. The redhead was taking deep breaths to calm himself, and the firm, reassuring holds that his family members had on him helped, as well as Naruko's familiar melody.

" _Just close your eyes, the sun is going down._

 _You'll be alright, n_ _o one can hurt you now._

 _Come morning light, y_ _ou and I'll be safe and sound._ "

Naruko proceeded to hum the tune as Shukaku's demonic chakra completely receded, and his control over the sand dropped from a frozen Lee, thankfully leaving him to a point where he was severely harmed, but repairable.

 **"Sorry, Cub..."** Gaara heard Shukaku mutter as he completely disappeared.

Gaara let loose a shuddering breath, and felt his knees buckle underneath its weight. Yagura quickly took his hand off the head of crimson and helped lower him to the ground. Gaara let out a soft groan and opened his eyes to find his "brothers" and "sister" kneeling by his sides, staring down at him with worry. He cracked a smile. "I'm okay," he managed.

Utakata frowned, a bubble hovering in his palm as he gently ran it over the younger boy's body. "You have chakra exhaustion. You should rest."

"It's fine," Gaara grunted as he tried to sit up. "I'm an insomniac. I'm used to lack of rest."

This time, it was Naruko who frowned. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've fixed your seal for you. You _know_ I've been studying seals."

"I didn't want to trouble you," Gaara mumbled sheepishly, earning an annoyed "tsk" from the blonde Uzumaki.

"If your seal is weak, then Shukaku wouldn't be able to stop some of the chakra that influences you badly from filtering into your chakra," Naruko scolded. "It would also be uncomfortable for him in your mindscape."

 **"She's right, Cub. I can't stop the "bad" chakra,"** Shukaku said from within Gaara's mind. **"Sorry for taking over you like that. But you know I can get... a little protective, and a little excited—"**

' _A_ little?' Gaara snorted. ' _I almost_ killed _that Genin. I thought we were over that phase, Shukaku._ '

Naruko sighed heavily. "You made me worry a lot when I sensed Shukaku's chakra seeping in, you know," she scolded in a softer tone.

"Us too," Bee added. "We were all worried. That's kind of the reason we came, y'know... man, we left an amazing buffet just because we felt your chakra spike. By the time we were within a mile radius, your chakra mixed with Shukaku's was flaring like a beacon. You were practically screaming for help."

Gaara smiled faintly. "Thanks for coming... and I'm sorry for worrying you all."

"It's fine, it's what family does," Yagura smiled.

"Naru... that was dangerous," Gaara said in an attempt to scold the girl but she was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, her expression reading, ' _And?'_

Gaara sighed. " _And_ , you could've gotten hurt."

Naruko cocked her other eyebrow, unimpressed. "And what did you think I was going to do — just stand there and wait for Shukaku to recede and possibly injure Lee to the point where his shinobi career would've been forced to an even earlier end? I think not."

Gaara sighed and his other family members chuckled. You would think that by now Gaara would be used to Naruko's recklessness and "logic", but no. Not even with the time spent apart did the blonde fox seem like she would think things through a bit more. But then again, that was what made Naruko... well, _Naruko_.

"Gaa-chan, Kurama's chakra should've made Shukaku drowsy, so he might be sleeping for a bit. I suggest you take advantage of the situation and get some much-needed rest," the girl informed the One-Tails' jinchuuriki, absent-mindedly brushing some hair out of his face. "I think it's safe to say Shukaku won't try to take over while you sleep, but even if he does then it doesn't matter, because we'll be there to help you get back in control."

Gaara smiled gratefully and gave her nod before dutifully closing his eyes to get some, quote Naruko, "much-needed rest".

"Naruko, you should go back to the rest of the candidates. Bee, you can go back to the Raikage and Hokage to cover for us, if you can. Uta and I will take Gaara to the infirmary," Yagura said as he looped an arm underneath Gaara's knees, ensuring his little brother was comfortably situated with the mop of red Gaara called "hair" resting on Yagura's chest before standing up.

Naruko raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know the way?"

"There are medics taking Lee to the infirmary. We'll just follow them," Utakata said, pointing to the medics who were already attending to Lee. Gai was standing with them.

Naruko nodded. "If you need anything, you know how to contact me."

The jinchuuriki nodded to each other and Killer Bee pulled Naruko into a brief, one-armed hug to ruffle her hair and shifted to playfully salute at Fuu before all of them — with the exception of Naruko — left the building, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Fuu quickly embraced Naruko, and the two exchanged words before returning to their positions at the railing.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde fox. Just what was she thinking, rushing into it like that? She could've gotten hurt. And then what would he have done? Sasuke stopped. What would... _he_ have done? It wasn't as if he would be affected if Naruko was injured. He only cared because she was his teammate, and as such, they were closer than most. It would obviously make sense for him to be concerned about a teammate and a close friend, but surely there was nothing more to it. After all... the racing pace that his heart was currently going at had nothing to do with how terrified he had been for her safety, and more to do with the pain and adrenaline that was still pumping through his body after the accidental-near-usage of the mark. He should get Naruko to look at that later; she seemed to know a lot about it. More than anyone on Team 7 did, anyway. And he was sure the Hokage wouldn't be willing to tell him anything, even if he did know.

Sakura bit her lip; she was intensely worried about Lee. She was, however, thankful that Naruko had managed to stop Gaara's sand. At that thought, she frowned at her teammate who was now leaning against the railing, an emotionless look on her face. Just how much had Naruko been hiding from them? They were a _team_. How did she know the Raikage's bodyguard? No matter how much Sakura thought about it, she couldn't think up of a logical reason as to how Naruko knew them. It was a mystery. _She_ was a mystery.

Kakashi narrowed his one eye at his blonde student, who was looking peaceful and unaware of the glares Sasuke was throwing at her and the curious gaze of her pinkette teammate. The Copy-Nin was fairly suspicious himself. After all, it wasn't every day your student interacted familiarly with the Raikage's younger brother. Fourth Mizukage and his bodyguard, he wasn't so worried — there was that mission to Wave.

It didn't add up, and Team 7 was determined to solve the mystery of one Naruko Uzumaki.

* * *

 **OMAKE: Yoroi vs Sasuke**

A dark aura flared, and everyone in the upper area instantly stiffened. Gaara slowly turned to see Naruko's blonde hair was floating upwards in nine snakes, the metal of the railing bending under her relentless grip. The redhead let out an involuntary squeak as his hand reached backwards to grasp at his sister's sleeve.

Temari blinked when a small, pale hand latched onto her sleeve, and when she turned, she had the fright of her life when she saw the hand belonged to her youngest brother. "Um, Gaara?" the eldest Sand Sibling asked cautiously, noting his tense stance indicating that his body was coiled for fight or flight; he appeared inclined towards the latter. "Is... something wrong?"

' _Of course something is wrong! Are you_ blind, _woman?'_ Gaara yelled in his mind as he practically dove behind the female. Screw image and reputation; he liked his life and his body just the way it was, thank you very much. And that, to Gaara at least, was more important than the facade he had hidden behind for the past two years.

Temari's eyes widened as she turned to look at the boy who had taken refuge behind her. ' _He's actually trembling... but why?'_ Her teal eyes were drawn to the blonde Leaf Genin who always appeared to be in the middle of some drama or other. She involuntarily shivered at the dark and menacing aura radiating off the blonde.

"Oh, she won't hurt you," Gaara reassured. "But she might hurt _me_. She has that I'm-going-to-kill-a-certain-male-for-being-an-idiot vibe. So you'll have to forgive me if I'd rather not take any chances."

"Wouldn't your sand protect you?" Kankuro asked, having noticed his sister's predicament.

Gaara snorted. "Not from _her_. Hell, if I'm matched up against her for a preliminary round, I'd forfeit immediately. That girl scares the absolute shit about of me."

Sakura's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline when she saw the railing bend into some distorted shape under her teammate's hands. "N-Naruko?" she asked a little warily.

"Ah, here we go again," Fuu commented airily from Sakura's left side. "She's got that I'm-going-to-kill-a-certain-male-for-being-an-idiot vibe."

Sakura looked at her in bewilderment. "There's a _vibe?"_

Fuu smiled and shrugged. "You can't miss it."

Sakura glanced at the redheaded Suna shinobi, and then back at the Taki kunoichi. "So why is _Gaara_ hiding?"

Fuu grinned, leaning back until the only thing that was stopping her from falling flat on her back completely was her hold on the railing. "Ah — that's because Gaa-chan has been on the receiving end of her wrath many times. He has a right to be frightened. See, if Naruko had that I'm-going-to-kill-someone-close-to-me vibe, quite frankly I would be running for the hills. As should you, if you knew what was good for you." Fuu's face then lit up with an impish grin as she chirped, "But it looks like it was an idiotic male who pissed her off this time round, so we can stay without any fear for our survival."

Sakura giggled. "So who pissed her off then?"

"My guess," Fuu nodded down at the match between the two Leaf Genin below them, "would be that teammate of yours down there."

"Sasuke?" Sakura wasn't all that surprised, and Fuu's guess was only confirmed when the railing finally snapped into pieces.

"Sas-uke U-chi-HA!" Naruko ground out each syllable with an ominous amount of malice before roaring the last syllable. There was a visible dark aura surrounding her body as she glared down at her idiotic teammate, killing intent flaring from every pore of her body. How dare that arrogant, incompetent prat use that damn mark? And after both she and Sakura had warned him, too. Kurama was cackling like a madman within the recesses of her mind, but she blocked him out.

Sasuke glanced up irritably at the sound of his name, and all but screeched when he saw one of his teammates in her terrifying state. The blonde held his gaze before leaping over the railing. He froze in fear, but Naruko was caught in a bubble before she reached him.

There was a flash of blue, and Yagura Karatachi appeared beside him. "Run, kid," he ordered as he whirled his staff in front of him in a defensive position while Naruko started to attempt to blast her way out of the bubble Utakata had trapped her in. "I don't know how long we can hold her back."

Sasuke didn't question; he fled.

And no one saw an Uchiha ever again.

* * *

 **(1) Rue's Whistle from the Hunger Games**

 **Yeah so... sorry this was so boring and lacking jinchuuriki family fluff (until the end). I was procrastinating my homework. Online classes = zero motivation (-_-")**

 **I'll try to have the next chapter up quickly to make up for this particular chapter; I wanted to write more but I figured that'd be way too long of a chapter because it's already 13,102 words. Sincere apologies to anyone who I have disappointed with this** **very lacking update.**

 **Also, I do hope you all realize that omakes are basically like deleted scenes, bloopers or could-have-beens; they have nothing to do with the story and are just there for a laugh.**


	12. Chuunin Exams: Interlude

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **Yeah, so... double update... enjoy :)**

* * *

Naruko and Gaara were currently in one of the empty training grounds, sitting in companionable silence. The preliminary matches, which had only taken place because of the abnormal number of Genin who passed the second phase, had wasted a majority of the day. At the end of it all, the finalists were then told they had a month to train before the final phase.

Currently, Fuu was training with her team — something Gaara was desperately avoiding. Naruko had simply decided to join him for some well-deserved down-time. Besides, she could tell Gaara was still very much hung up on how he had almost accidentally killed Lee.

The jinchuuriki had given Kakashi "her blessing" to go train Sasuke instead of her, reasoning that it wasn't as if Kakashi could teach her anything else. Sasuke would no doubt benefit from having a teacher who had the Sharingan and had the same affinity as he did — Lightning.

"Ne, Gaara, can I ask you something?" Naruko asked as she absent-mindedly re-sketched a seal of her own design. The redheaded boy hummed in acknowledgement of her question. "Why do you pretend you don't care?"

Gaara paused, his sand grains freezing along with him. "What?"

Naruko glanced up from her sketchpad. "I'm talking about with Temari and Kankuro... your real siblings. When you're with us — Fuu and myself, that is — you act like you. But when you're with them, you're someone else. I mean, sure you've always been stubborn as hell, moody and a little unpredictable; one day you'll snarl at me for getting too close, and the next day you'd hug me for the same thing. You'll be ridiculously set on something and then change your mind just because you felt like it. But this is different... you act like you don't care at all. Why?"

Gaara set down his half-formed sculpture. "I..."

The blonde shifted over so that she was no longer leaning against him, but sitting across from him in a cross-legged position. "You know that whatever you say, I'll never judge you, right? And this will always stay between us unless you wish otherwise."

Her brother nodded meekly. "I don't... I don't really know," he admitted. She was looking at him with that look, and that meant she wanted more of an answer than that. "It's hard. I don't know how to be... a brother... to them."

Naruko tilted her head. "You do a wonderful job of being a brother to me," she offered.

"That's different," Gaara shook his head. "With you two, everything is easy. I don't have to be... I don't have to be someone I'm not. There's no expectations for me to live up to. With Fuu, Yagura, Utakata, Bee, okaa-san... people who are like you and me, I'm free. Free to be who I am."

"Gaara, you're always free to be who you are."

She was looking at him so earnestly. She believed it. So why couldn't he?

The redhead sighed through his nose. "It's more complicated than that," he said quietly. "If they don't like me now, at least I know they don't like someone who's not me. But if I show them who I am every day, the person I am when I'm around you, what if they don't like it? I'm... afraid they won't like me, even then," he confessed.

Naruko hummed contemplatively. "I know how you feel." She shot him a rueful smile. "We're both jinchuuriki, after all. It's a valid insecurity, so you needn't be ashamed of it. But at the end of the day, that's all it is: an insecurity. You'll never know what they truly think of you if they live with a lie. But if you want my brutally honest opinion, I'd say that you annoy the heck out of me. You're stingy with your things, particularly photos. You ambush me, prank me and tackle me in a tickle-attack. You gang up on me with Fuu. You see everything with that damned Third Eye of yours and never give me any privacy."

Gaara was looking at her with a mix of surprise, indignance, and a little hurt.

The annoyed features relaxed into a gentle smile. "But I know you're stingy with photos because they were all you had to remind you of your biological family when we were living together. You ambush me and prank me because you want to have some fun. You tickle me because you know I'm not in a good mood and you want to cheer me up. You gang up on me with Fuu because you know you can't say 'no' to me by yourself. And you always checked up on me with that Third Eye to make sure I don't get into too much trouble or hurt myself." Naruko leaned forward to take his hands in hers. "You're always looking out for me, and I love that about you. You annoy me, but in case you haven't noticed, as my brother, it's your job to do exactly that. And regardless of what you do, I love you. Nothing will ever change that."

Gaara smiled at her. "Thanks. I'm not really sorry I annoy you, though, because you annoy me back, tenfold."

Naruko rolled her eyes with a laugh. "That's what siblings do. And sure you may have some bad habits that are real annoying and hard to ignore. But if you love someone enough — the same way I love you and Fuu — then those bad habits are easy to forget."

"I suppose," Gaara agreed, recalling his family's less-than-admirable, subconscious habits.

Naruko snickered. "You're thinking about how Roshi always leaves his underwear inside out on top of the laundry hamper, aren't you?"

Gaara's nose wrinkled. "It was so gross. I mean seriously, inside out? _Disgusting_."

Naruko raised an eyebrow. "Do you remember that entire ordeal when there was an unknown lacy bra in the hamper, and Utakata mentioned in passing that, if we were to find a bra that coincidentally had the exact designs on it, we should give it back to Yagura?"

Gaara tried not to laugh at the memory. "Everyone got concerned and thought he was either going to be a pole dancer or a transgender, and then they were dropping hints at being supportive and all, except for the pole dancing part. One of the best weeks of my life." **(1)**

"And it was actually their friend's that had gotten mixed up with his clothes during a mission," the blonde grinned. "Yagura nearly beat the living daylights out of Utakata then when we finally told him. I don't think I've ever seen either of them go that red before. Yagura was a spluttering mess and Utakata was choking on his spit."

"Best. Day. _Ever_ ," Gaara snickered.

"They'd sorely disagree with you," Naruko commented, and the redhead agreed. A comfortable silence befell them, and then the blonde spoke again. "You know, Yagura and Utakata fight all the time. It's strange to see them not at each other's throats every five minutes. But regardless, they love each other and when it comes down to it, they'd have each other's backs no matter what."

Gaara hummed in agreement. "Your point being?"

"My point," Naruko sighed, "is that if your siblings loved you the way our family loves each other, you have no reason to be afraid of being yourself. And sure, you'd be doing a 180-degree switch on your personality, but I think it's better than who you are around them. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed that, beneath the wariness, all they want is to have their baby brother."

"I'm not a baby!" His voice was decidedly annoyed, and then it softened. "Although, I... would like to have an older sister."

"Brother?" Naruko raised her eyebrow.

Gaara shrugged. "I have too many. And they annoy me." He paused contemplatively. "But that isn't to say that I wouldn't like to get to know Kankuro. He seems nice. A little immature, but he could be quite fun. He's the more emotional of the two." A twinkle entered his eye. "Kinda like Yagura. Temari's more like okaa-san, though."

"I can see that," Naruko agreed. "Logical, no-nonsense, very maternal. Driven by a need to care and protect those precious to her." She leaned back on her palms, casting her gaze to the clouds above that drifted lazily from one end of the sky to the other. "I miss okaa-san."

"So do I. And I miss Roshi-jiji and Han-nii, too."

Naruko flopped onto her back and then rolled over so her head was in Gaara's lap. "Did you have any idea Bee-nii was coming?"

Gaara shook his head, his pale fingers twisted in the long blonde strands. "I knew Killer Bee was the name of the Raikage's adopted younger brother, but I didn't suspect he would be one of his bodyguards, as well. Although it does make sense — with Gyuki and that weird kenjutsu style of his, Bee-nii is a force to be reckoned with." He paused, and his voice turned lighter as he teased, "Although, okaa-san will probably knock him out of the park in terms of ferocity once she sees that a certain Uchiha has a crush on you~"

Naruko raised her eyebrow. "Sasuke? We're just friends."

"Sure," Gaara grinned. "That's what they all say."

"No, really. We're just close because we're on the same team, so naturally..."

"Mmhm. I believe you."

"You so do not," Naruko grinned, reaching up to gently slap him. "Anyway, speaking of Bee-nii and his weird kenjutsu, did I tell you about how I got trained by the infamous Zabuza Momochi?"

Gaara stared at her. "You _what?"_

Naruko's grin widened. "Apparently not." And so she launched into the story of how she and her team had been tricked into going into a B-rank mission as mere Genin, and while Kakashi had been detained by the Demon of the Mist, their beloved brothers Yagura and Utakata showed up in a true-to-nature, more-than-necessarily-dramatic fashion. She had then proceeded to "ditch" her team in favour of catching up with her brothers, and a few days later they once again faced off with the ex-head of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Of course, this battle had evolved to include all of Team 7, and then Gato had shown up, prompting Zabuza's change of sides and another one of Yagura's appearances. Once everything had been resolved — namely with Zabuza's reformation and Gato's death — the swordsman had taken it upon himself to train Naruko in kenjutsu for the remainder of her mission.

Gaara sat back, letting out an impressed whistle. "Wow. I never realized Yagura's such a drama queen."

Naruko couldn't help but laugh. " _That's_ what you got out of my story?"

Gaara returned her smile. "No, don't get me wrong — having a Swordsman of the Mist train you in kenjutsu is nothing short of amazing. I'm impressed, not to mention a little envious. I'd very much like to see how you fare against my sand. Seeing as how it was only okaa-san and Yagura who were able to slip past by ultimate defense, this will be interesting." He paused. "Although, I guess it can't be called "ultimate" anymore."

Naruko's eyes softened. "Hey, Lee will be fine."

Gaara looked away. "He won't ever be a shinobi again. I did that."

"He opened five of the Eight Inner Gates," Naruko informed him gently. "Perhaps if you had tried to injure him afterwards, yes that would've been your fault. But you didn't continue to hurt him."

"I almost did."

"But you _didn't_ ," she emphasized.

"I only stopped because you were here. You, Yagura, Utakata, and Bee."

"And we always will be here." She tilted her brother's face up to meet her eyes. After a moment, Naruko reached back to untie forehead protector and let it fall to the ground as she leaned down to touch her forehead to his. "I promise, we will always be here when you need us."

Gaara could only nod, searching her cerulean eyes. He saw nothing but compassion and endless love, the same that he had been introduced to for the first time in his life when he was six. Those emotions had never wavered, even two years apart. Something evaporated, leaving his heart feeling lighter than it had in years. _There was nothing he could do, to take away those emotions._

She smiled that small, knowing smile.

 _Nothing in the world would ever take away the love she had for him._

Gaara closed his eyes and let peace wash over him as he basked in the serene moment that was so rare to come by these days. The warm presence of his sister was just a bonus.

 _Just like nothing in the world would ever take away his love for her._

"Come on Panda-chan," Naruko whispered, "spend the day with me. We deserve the day off... just like old times. Ne?"

Gaara opened his eyes, accepting her hand.

 _It was the same with every member of their oddball family — the love they freely gave would always be there, would never disappear._

 _Because their family was one brought together by the same pain from an identical burden._ _But it didn't seem like a burden, when there were more people like them._

 _And they'd be damned if they let anything get between them that easily._

* * *

"Hi Alastor," Naruko chirped as she walked into Tendōkyū Weaponry.

A man in his late forties with deep auburn hair came out from the back of the shop, a kind smile on his weathered face. "Ah, Naruko-san. How are you?"

"Good, good," the girl smiled cheerily as she let go of Gaara's gourd strap and started to walk to the sword section. "I'm here to buy a sword because I promised Zabuza-sensei I'd keep up with my kenjutsu," she called as she disappeared among the blades.

Alastor raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Alright then, call for me if you have any trouble." He turned to her companion, "Are you here for something too, lad?"

Gaara shook his head. "Naruko dragged me here against my will."

Alastor chuckled again. "Yes, she has a tendency to do that. The Uchiha boy and Haruno girl have also been dragged here many times. Not that I or Mathilde — my wife — object, of course."

Naruko grinned as she heard their conversation before turning her attention to the blades that were in glass cases, hanging on the walls and the like. Through her training with Zabuza, she had come to realize her preference for katana and nodachi. And speaking of which—

 **"Kit. Kit. _Kit._ "** A pause. **"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt~"**

' _What?'_ Naruko snapped, slightly irritated at the incessant whine-like chanting in her head. And to think, this was a demon who had lived around the time of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. How the mighty have fallen indeed...

 **"Get that one, get that one!"**

Naruko raised a brow as she walked over to a nodachi. ' _Well someone's excited_.' The handle was black with the typical diamond-shaped holes in a vertical line. However, a crimson-red cloth had been used to colour the diamonds, instead of leaving it empty.

 **"That, Kit, is the famed Nietono no Shana."** **(2)** Kurama was as giddy as a child who knew one of his birthday presents included exactly what he wanted. **"That nodachi was specifically made with _my_ jinchuuriki in mind." **

Naruko raised a brow. ' _I thought the only jinchuuriki before me was my biological mother and the Shodai's wife, Mito Uzumaki. And to my knowledge, neither of them were all that proficient in kenjutsu._ '

 **"On the contrary, my dear Kit,"** the fox grinned gleefully, **"as you know, the Uzumaki were very-well known kenjutsu users. Hence why Zabuza was so adamant at training you. I'm surprised you're only buying a blade now."**

' _Hush — I want to see if I can use it in the Chuunin Exams_.'

Kurama snorted, **"Doubt it. Anyway, a man named Tenmoku Ikko was the blacksmith who crafted this blade. The sword specifically channels demonic chakra — _my_ chakra. You can use it to better discover and hone the Fire affinity you have from being my jinchuuriki, as well as the usual kenjutsu moves."**

Naruko slowly reached out and picked it up; the nodachi seemed to shiver in her hand, pulsing with a chakra that could only be described as an inferno, however friendly it seemed. ' _Nietono no Shana, huh?'_ She tossed it from hand to hand. It was a good weight. ' _What kind attacks can it do with your chakra?'_

Kurama paused. **"One that I know of is " Great Blade of Crimson". Yes, yes, I know, not very original, so obviously I didn't come up with it. But basically, it coats that blade with a flame which you can use to hurl at enemies from a distance, whether as a wave of fire or fireballs. I'm pretty sure you can create fiery constructs to your bidding, too."**

Naruko raised her eyebrows, impressed. ' _Cool_.'

"Find one to your liking, Naruko-san?"

Naruko whirled around to see Alastor behind her, and smiled. "Yes. I quite like this one."

"Ah, now that's a mighty fine blade," Alastor grinned. "Tenmoku Ikko's Nietono no Shana." He stepped back and scanned the girl's build before nodding in approval. "The sword is the correct height for you, in any regard, so it will work for you. It's especially attuned to Fire affinity, but no Uchiha ever looked twice at it, much less picked it up." He sighed, but smiled brightly. "Good for you, though. I'm sure it will serve you well."

Naruko smiled indulgently as she followed the old man to the register. "Is there a scabbard?"

Alastor looked almost apologetic. "Ikko-san didn't provide a scabbard with this particular blade, unfortunately, which is quite strange in and of itself..."

Naruko waved him off with a smile, "No matter. I can always seal it."

"Alright," Alastor smiled. "Just for the lack of a scabbard, I will reduce the price by ten percent for you. That will be 40,656¥." **(3)**

Naruko didn't comment on the price of the nodachi — considering its uniqueness, she was lucky it wasn't even more expensive — and dutifully handed over the money. With a quick seal on one of the empty mini-scrolls she always carried with her, the blade disappeared. Alastor waved off the thanks Naruko threw his way as she grabbed Gaara's gourd strap to drag him with her as she exited the weaponry shop.

Gaara pouted, smoothing down his clothes. "I wanted to look at the weapons more."

Naruko looked at him in wry amusement, "Yeah, well I want to train with my nodachi as soon as possible. Also, aren't you in the least bit hungry?"

Gaara pondered this before agreeing. "Where do you suggest going? And I would prefer not to go to a fancy restaurant," he added quickly, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"You and me both," Naruko agreed. "Come, Panda-chan, I have the perfect place in mind." And with that said, she grabbed his hand and dragged him off for the second time that day. It didn't take long for a familiar white stand to come into view, the delicious smell of broth, noodles and meat rushing to meet her. "Teuchi-jiji," she called as she entered the ramen stand.

A kindly old man looked over to see his favourite customer, and his smile widened. "Naruko-chan, good to see you. My," his eyes twinkled, "would this be a suitor of yours?"

Naruko blinked first at him, and then at Gaara before bursting into laughter. "Teuchi-jiji, meet my brother, Gaara."

"Ah, apologies," Teuchi said sheepishly. He didn't comment on how Gaara was clearly from a different village. "Now, what can I get for you two? Last I heard, Naruko, you were nominated for the Chuunin Exams. How did that go over?"

"The usual, jiji," Naruko smiled as the two jinchuuriki took a seat, "and Gaa-chan will have miso ramen. As for the Chuunin Exams... I suppose they've been alright so far. The second phase was by far the most dangerous." She began recounting her many experiences while Teuchi listened with an indulgent smile like any other doting grandfather.

"Naruko Uzumaki, I should've known."

"Yagu-nii," both Genin greeted at the same time. Yagura stared at them, before shaking his head with a defeated sigh and sitting down. Utakata and Killer Bee followed shortly.

"Hey Little Britches," Bee grinned, reaching over to headlock Naruko and scuffle her head.

"Bee," Naruko grinned, hugging his arm. She had missed him so much, as quirky as he was. The blonde then perked up, "Oh yeah, I was about to ask — why are you guys here? I thought the Kage were only coming for the third phase, and that's in a month's time. And I also thought Kumo had a tense relationship with Konoha?"

"That's the reason my brother and I are here," Killer Bee nodded. "I convinced him to come here to the Chuunin Exams while the other Kage were, too. Try to patch things up and make a stronger alliance, y'know?"

"Are you sure it's not just so you could have an excuse to come here?" Gaara raised a knowing eyebrow, and Bee laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck.

Naruko smirked, and then asked, "I assume that's what Kiri's doing, too?"

"Hit the nail on the head, you little knucklehead," Yagura shot two finger guns at her with a grin before turning to Teuchi. "One tonkotsu and two miso ramen bowls, please."

"Coming right up!" Teuchi called, clearly having not recognized the three rather important — but foreign — shinobi.

"So are we going to have some down-time as siblings today?" Naruko was resting her cheek in her palm as she watched her supposedly-mature older brothers banter away.

"Yep," Yagura grinned.

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have political things to discuss with the Hokage? And won't the Raikage be missing you, Bee? Not that I don't enjoy your company," he added quickly. "But..."

The Kumo shinobi grinned, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "No offense taken, panda. And nah, I bet the Hokage's too busy dealing with my brother's hot temper to miss any of us. And even if he does, we left clones anyway."

Gaara's eyes widened. "You left _clones?"_

"Of course, we're not amateurs," Utakata said as if even the thought of them being such a thing were an insult. Gaara lowered his face into his hand, using his pointer finger and thumb to rub at his aching eyes. Dear Kami, why did the most lovable people also have to have outrageously large amounts of idiocy?

"I was _bored_ ," Yagura emphasized.

"And you don't think _I_ get bored?" Gaara deadpanned. "I'm at least ten years younger than you and I'm also forced to learn all about politics and other diplomatic matters, seeing as I'm the son of the Kazekage."

"Too much talk. Too little food. Not much action. Speak no more. Brain, mush." Yagura slammed his head onto the table, and after a long pause, "...head hurt."

"Wow," Naruko shook her head in amusement. "He's really dying."

"And somehow, I don't think slamming his head on the table helped his rapidly decreasing brain cells," a familiar voice quipped as the cloth lifted for the third time that hour, and the petite form of a kunoichi slipped into a seat beside Gaara.

"Fuu," Bee leaned back to grin at his other little sister. "Done with your training?"

"I would ask how you know, but I genuinely don't want to know," Fuu giggled. "And yes. Even if I didn't make it to the third phase, we're staying for Yōrō-kun."

"Sorry about that," Naruko smiled sympathetically, "but hey, at least you have a reason to stick around. It would suck if you had to leave so soon."

Fuu agreed. "It's okay, though. To be honest, we weren't expecting to pass on the first try. I jumped at the chance to come to Konoha, and it just so happened that our sensei thought it was a good opportunity for us to gauge what level we were at compared to other shinobi. Taki's just a minor village, after all."

"Thanks, Teuchi-jiji," Naruko smiled as the man put down a steaming bowl of ramen in front of her. "So do you think the Takikage would come since your teammate got into the third phase? I mean, the Kazekage, Raikage and Mizukage are here." She pursed her lips. "That just leaves the Tsuchikage as the odd one out."

Yagura snorted. "Fat chance of _that_ old fart ever coming around."

"Hey," Gaara intoned, "that "old fart" is the Kage of our dearly departed brother and grandfather. May they rest in peace."

Catching on, all six of them bowed their heads in respect to the two Iwa shinobi who were as far away from any of them as one could get. There was no doubt in any of their minds that, had Han and Roshi not had each other, they would've gone berserk by now.

"I wish we had somewhere all nine of us could meet up," Naruko said wistfully, playing with her noodles. "Somewhere secluded, yet close enough that we could travel to within a day."

"That would be the dream," Fuu agreed as she tucked into her own meal. "I've been wondering, how did _you_ become Mizukage anyway, Yagu-nii?"

Yagura grinned. "Now _that's_ a very fun story, and believe it or not, it has to do with the stitch on my face..."

Even when the six jinchuuriki had finished their meals, they stayed at Ichiraku's Ramen so they could continue talking and catching each other up on the many events that had happened in the two years they were apart. Yagura and Utakata had the most entertaining stories by far, seeing as they were both high-ranked and were a comedic duo in general. Utakata constantly hit his esteemed Mizukage over the head for over-exaggerating things, before correcting him in a deadpan tone. There were a few instances were someone would shout, "I was there too!" when someone was recounting a mission, and they would all freak out and bemoan the fact they were unlucky enough to miss each other. Gaara's stories were fun to listen to, since he had adopted a rather different personality altogether in Suna. He attributed it to not wanting people to think he was bipolar, since he could practically feel the seal cracking. Naruko had immediately gone off on a long seal rant, and Gaara's other siblings shot him death stares. It was safe to say, no one brought up fūinjutsu for the rest of that conversation, if they could help it at all. There were also reports on how their respective Bijuu were doing. Various laughs ensued as stories of sarcasm, inappropriate conversations during life-or-death situations, and other typical traits of the Bijuu surfaced once more in stories that weren't at all lacking in any department, especially hilarity. Killer Bee made sure he told stories of Yugito as well, seeing as she was on an two-month-long undercover mission and hence was unable to be there with them. Naruko enjoyed hearing about what had become of their lives ever since the separation — in fact, this was reminding her of the numerous conversations they'd have over the dinner table back when their family was whole — but she couldn't help wondering idly if she would ever have the opportunity to see the other three missing family members again... if ever. She shook her head quickly; she _would_ see them again. Of that, she would make sure. Even if she had to bribe the Hokage and Kakashi to do so. She knew that if she asked, her teammates would have no qualms in helping her out with that particular part; Sasuke and Sakura had little to no outward respect for their sensei, which attributed to the many enjoyable training sessions that helped Team 7 grow as people, shinobi, friends and partners-in-crime.

"Oh look, pervert alert," Fuu noted absently. After at least five hours, a raging Fourth Raikage had come storming down the warpath screaming for Killer Bee. The poor shinobi had blanched and promptly ran away, dragging Yagura and Utakata with him to the forest. Said Mizukage and his bodyguard were similarly terrified. Evidently, they had been found out. The triplets opted to not stick around, and Naruko had taken them sightseeing. Currently, they were outside the hot springs.

Naruko cocked her head; there was a man with long, white spiky hair. ' _Is he related to Kaka-nii?'_

Kurama snorted. **"No, Kit. That's the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya. You know, student of Lord Third, teammate of Orochimaru and Tsunade Senju? He's the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, a self-proclaimed Super Pervert, and your father's sensei."**

' _He's_ Orochimaru's _teammate?'_ Naruko wrinkled her nose.

 **"Yeah, but he's a good guy. Orochimaru was the... Sasuke of the team. He's rogue, and Tsunade's off gambling and getting drunk in the middle of nowhere. Jiraiya's cool, but a little too perverted."**

' _I don't know how to respond to the "Sasuke of the team", part,_ ' Naruko sighed. ' _So should I go over there and kick his ass for peeping?'_

 **"Well, seeing as he's your godfather... sure, I believe that's well within your rights."**

Naruko's eye twitched. ' _He's_ what?'

 **"Your godfather,"** Kurama repeated in a nonchalant tone, grinning. This would be interesting to watch. Naruko somehow managed to quietly storm over to the peeping Sannin, all the while she thought of many various things she could do to the pervert, both to punish him for peeping and for not stepping up to take responsibility for her after her parents died. Although, it did end up being for the best, seeing as she was raised by the jinchuuriki themselves.

A wicked look entered her eyes as she transformed while she walked — she became taller, her hair shorter and spikier, and eyes narrower and her feminine form turned into that of an adult male. She was dressed in the typical Jonin outfit, complete with a short-sleeved white haori lined with red flames and the inscription of the Yondaime Hokage down the back.

Fuu tapped Gaara's arm, and catching on, the two quickly took shelter in the trees to watch from afar. When their sister got like this, it was best to observe at a distance that would benefit them by providing a quick escape route. Especially if they didn't know the man well enough to predict his reaction.

' _So what did my dad call him?'_

 **"Jiraiya-sensei. What else would he call him? Perverted Hermit?"** Kurama snorted. **"No, the name-calling and complete lack of respect for elders comes from your biological mother."**

Naruko snorted mentally, and then reached out to tap the Sannin's shoulder. "Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Huh? Who are you calling "sensei", br—" His eyes almost bugged out of his face. " _Minato?_ Wha— how— y-you can't— you're—" The Sannin stood there, spluttering for a full six seconds before his eyes rolled back and he fainted right on the spot.

Naruko sweatdropped. ' _Well_ that _was a little unexpected._ ' She dispelled her Henge and turned to wave over her siblings, who dropped down and dutifully helped her carry the Sannin to one of the training grounds. "I can't believe he fainted," she muttered almost irritably.

Fuu raised her eyebrow. "Why did you henge into a man?"

"That was my biological father, the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze," Naruko explained. "This man was apparently his sensei, Jiraiya."

Gaara threw her an amused look. "And you really thought he wouldn't freak out."

Naruko shrugged as she flopped onto the ground, resting her head onto Fuu's lap and dropping her ankles onto Gaara's. "I mean, he's one of the Legendary Sannin and hence Orochimaru's teammate... so you would assume he's at least somewhat used to weird happenings by now."

"Speaking of which, who was that Orochimaru-guy?" Fuu asked curiously.

Naruko sighed. "Orochimaru is a rogue Leaf ninja. He was trained under the Sandaime Hokage along with his teammates Jiraiya and Tsunade Senju. Sometime during the Third Shinobi War, Hanzo of the Salamander gave them the moniker of the Legendary Sannin. They've been known as such ever since, even when they parted ways after the War. Orochimaru's illegal, and not to mention unethical, experiments were discovered and he eventually left as a missing-nin. Though still loyal to Konoha, Tsunade also left the village because of the losses she suffered during the War, or something like that. And Jiraiya's always travelling in order to manage his rather extensive spy network and... I think that's it."

"So your newly-revealed godfather is a powerful shinobi, a pervert, and a spy network manager," Gaara summarized.

"Pretty much," Naruko sighed. "Apparently he was my father's sensei, so I guess it makes sense." She paused. "I wonder who my mother's sensei was."

"So Orochimaru is evil, Jiraiya is a pervert... what's Tsunade's horrible flaw?" Fuu wondered out loud.

Naruko thought back to a conversation with Kakashi. "I believe she gambles and drinks. And she also sucks at gambling... she's the Legendary Sucker. Tsunade winning is an equivalent to a bad omen, but—"

"Minato!" the Toad Sage abruptly lurched up from where the triplets had stretched him out on the ground, causing Fuu to shriek and blindly throw some webbing in his general direction while Naruko jumped to her feet with the Nietono no Shana at the Sannin's neck, sand restraining his limbs. Jiraiya blinked. "Uh..."

"Please, for the love of lanta, _never_ do that again," Naruko sighed as she lowered her blade. Fuu quickly dissolved the webbing with a sheepish apology, and the sand quickly slithered away and back into Gaara's gourd. Naruko dropped down to the ground, sealing the nodachi back into her storage scroll. "Will you please stop staring at me?" she asked as politely as she could, though a flicker of irritation was visible in her eyes, whether at her godfather for abandoning her or for startling them, she didn't really know.

At that, Jiraiya apparently found his voice. "N-Naruko?" he asked in an almost strangled voice.

The blonde tilted her head. "Apparently you do know about my existence. So would you like to tell me exactly where you have been for the past thirteen years, otherwise known as the entirety of my life... _godfather?"_

Jiraiya blanched. "Uh... I-I..."

"Cut him some slack, he was probably either chasing Orochimaru or Tsunade, or managing his spy network," Fuu sighed as she stretched her arms above her head. "Or, and I reluctantly admit this is the more likely scenario, he was peeping in the hot springs," she added.

Naruko snorted in amusement, and then looked over at the Sannin. "So, seeing as you have at least thirteen years to make up for, you can train me for the final phase of the Chuunin Exams. I might consider calling it even, then."

" _You're_ in the Chuunin Exams?" Jiraiya's eyebrows nearly rose up and off his face.

"Surprise~" Naruko rolled her eyes. "I'm a genius like my father." Okay, so she admitted to being a little petulant, but could you blame her? This was the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya, her godfather and quite possibly the last living link to her parents, and he hadn't even bothered to check in on her _once_ in her thirteen years of being alive. And if that didn't clearly state something about said Toad Sage's character, then she didn't know what else did.

"You know your heritage?" Jiraiya asked carefully.

"My father: Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage and the Leaf's Yellow Flash. He was your student. My mother: Kushina Uzumaki, the last of the Uzumaki Clan, was brought to Konoha to be the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Known as the Red Hot Habanero," Naruko ticked off her fingers. "Said Bijuu resides in me after the death of both parents, and since he detests being referred to as such, was forced to tell me his name — Kurama." She tilted her head innocently at Jiraiya. "Have I missed anything?"

The legendary shinobi was white as a sheet. "I thought that was all a secret," he finally said at last, wonderment and what sounded similar to pride lining his voice.

Gaara looked amused at the implications. "As if anything could keep Naruko from finding out what she wants to know."

Jiraiya finally noticed the other two Genin. "I'm sorry — who are you two, again?"

"Gaara no Sabaku, Chuunin Exam participant," the redhead introduced. "I'm Naruko's de facto brother since I hold the Ichibi. That over there," he nodded at the green-haired girl who waved at the Sannin cheerfully while simultaneously giving him the stink-eye, "is Bean-chan—"

"Panda-chan!" The girl cut off, attempting to look angry only to let out a laugh before turning to the Sannin. "I'm Fuu, from Takigakure. Also a de facto sibling due to jinchuuriki status."

"What the hell..." Jiraiya muttered, almost dazedly. "I must be dreaming."

"I assure you, you're not dreaming," the triplets deadpanned in identical flat tones. "Good lanta, Roshi-jiji would skin us if he was here," Gaara sighed as his sisters laughed. Naruko moved over to pull Jiraiya's cheek, drawing him back to reality.

The Sannin jumped, but smiled when he saw the inquisitive look in her eyes. "Your mannerisms are a perfect blend of Minato and Kushina," he murmured under his breath, and didn't miss the surprise lighting her eyes. He shook his head, and his nostalgic smile grew into an exuberant grin not unlike the Uzumaki Grin. "Well, polliwog, you wanted me to train you? I'll train you." **(4)**

Naruko couldn't help smiling. "Really?"

"Sure," Jiraiya nodded. "First off: what do you know already? Don't want to teach you something you already know, after all."

Naruko's smile grew. "My natural affinities are Water and Wind, and I'm fairly proficient in both. I also have the Fire affinity which is a side effect of being jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, but it's... complicated. I'll elaborate more on that later. Um, I can do a few minor Earth jutsu, but Kurama only had me learn so I could be well-rounded, so I only know defensive-type jutsu, like Earth Style: Mud Wall. I think my chakra control's as good as it's going to get, seeing as I have an overabundance of chakra... one of the first things Kurama had me learn was walking up trees and on water."

Jiraiya looked rather impressed. "So tell me, do you know your father's signature jutsu?"

"The Rasengan and the Hiraishin," Naruko nodded eagerly. "Kurama had me working on stamina and endurance to prepare me for the Hiraishin, but I haven't attempted it yet because... well, things came up. I can perform the Rasengan, but it takes up a lot of concentration and I prefer to do it with the aid of a Shadow Clone, so... still working on it and it'll probably take some time since I haven't done it in practically forever. Oh, and a funny thing happened: I once managed to fuse Lightning into the Rasengan despite not having that affinity — I chalked it up to Kurama being weird. Oh and speaking of Shadow Clones, I can mass-produce them since, you know, lots of chakra to waste." She finally took a breath, and then glared at Jiraiya who was muffling laughter. "What?"

"Nothing, polliwog," Jiraiya chuckled. "You just... reminded me of your mom there. Talking a mile a minute without ever taking a breath." He cleared his throat to compose himself. "It seems you are rather well-rounded in most aspects, and well ahead of what I initially assumed. I guess we can thank... Kurama... for that." He looked a little uncomfortable at addressing the Kyuubi by name, and Naruko couldn't fault him for that. "I would really like to know how you did Lightning with the Rasengan, though."

"So would I," Naruko deadpanned. "I didn't think it would work, because Lightning and Wind are supposed to cancel each other out." She huffed. "I hate theory. But I also hate logic-defying Bijuu the most."

"Seconded," Fuu piped up, immediately followed by an amused, "Thirded" from Gaara.

Jiraiya was suitably amused, but didn't comment. "Well then," he loudly clapped his hands once and stood up. "I have a _great_ idea."

"As long as it doesn't involve the hot springs, Pervy Sage."

Jiraiya's head whipped around, a greatly offended look on his face. "What did you just call me?"

Naruko smiled innocently at him. "Oh, so you're allowed to give me a nickname, but I can't give you one? That hurts, but no less than you abandoning me for thirteen years."

Jiraiya's shoulders slumped as he deadpanned at her. "You're going to keep guilt-tripping me every time you want something, huh?"

"Yep!" Naruko popped the "p" as she skipped over to join him. She turned to wave at the Taki and Suna shinobi, who were smiling in amusement. "See you in a month's time!" she called with a cheerful smile.

"See you," Fuu responded in kind, while Gaara merely lifted a hand in farewell. "She seems just as happy as when we found each other in the classroom during the first phase," the green-haired girl noted.

"I'm glad," Gaara said simply. "She deserves some happiness. I think she's more shaken up by the Forest of Death than she realizes."

"Aren't we all," Fuu murmured. Their brief moment of much-appreciated peace was interrupted when a familiar shinobi bearing the symbol of Oto on their forehead protector landed in front of them. Gaara narrowed his eyes and shifted so that his body was between the shinobi and Fuu. He could already tell this confrontation was going to get very ugly, very fast.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked back to see Fuu's amber eyes were unusually hard — almost as hard as a seasoned shinobi. Her face was stony and expressionless; she clearly remembered him as one of the ninja who had attacked their sister's team, as well.

It was a good thing Naruko left already.

* * *

"So what did you have in mind?"

Jiraiya looked down at the girl beside him — her arms were locked straight behind her back, and she was walking with a slight skip in her step. Her whiskered face was relaxed and slightly tilted up to a sky that matched the shade of her eyes. Her blonde hair — bright as Minato's and as long as Kushina's — was let loose and fell to her lower back. Her Konoha forehead protector was tied on her forehead, proudly displaying her shinobi status for all to see. She wore a short dark skirt under a short-sleeved, orange kimono-like blouse with a dark embroidered border and a bright red Uzumaki swirl on the lower left corner, held closed with a black obi. Dark stockings stopped at her upper thighs, and she wore the traditional black shinobi sandals. The outfit reminded him of Kushina when she had been a Genin...

In fact, everything about his goddaughter practically screamed Minato and Kushina — from her appearance to her personality, her admirable work ethic and her easy acceptance of things she didn't care to explain, and her now-apparent love for daydreaming, she had it down to a T. He wasn't surprised if she was a natural at kenjutsu and fūinjutsu either, seeing as she had Uzumaki blood running through her veins. And if her dream was to be Hokage... well, that was just more concrete proof of who she was.

At the lack of a reply, Naruko took a cautious glance at her godfather. She hadn't really studied him before hand — he was fairly tall and well-built, and his long spiky white hair reminded her of Kakashi. His coal eyes were currently vacant as if he were lost in thought. Two long thin stripes ran down his cheeks and vaguely reminded her of tears of blood. He had laugh lines around the corners of his mouth, and a wart on the left side of his nose. He wore a green short-shirt-kimono and matching pants over a mesh armour that was visible around his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He also wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" — 油 — and had a large scroll on his back.

First impression: pervert and irresponsible. All in all, not great. But then he had instantly noticed things about her and connected them to her biological parents, and hadn't hesitated in telling her so. Minato and Kushina had obviously been dear to him, and Naruko couldn't help but wonder if she had misjudged his irresponsibility. He was, after all, training her to make up for the lost years. Although, there was the unforgettable pervertedness... Naruko sighed. Terrible as the first impression was, she had a feeling Jiraiya would grow on her in time. Naruko subconsciously harboured a hope that she would become as precious to him as her father had clearly been.

"Alright, this seems like a good spot," Jiraiya finally spoke, breaking the silence. Naruko looked up at him curiously, and he merely grinned at her. "I'm going to be teaching you a very special technique, but first I'm going to show you, so watch carefully."

Naruko's eyes lit up. Judging by one of his titles, she had a pretty good idea of what this special technique was.

Jiraiya bit his right thumb, swiped the blood onto his other palm and went through the handsign sequence before slamming his left hand flat onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke, and suddenly Jiraiya was standing on the head of a medium-sized orange toad, a scroll in its mouth.

"I knew it," Naruko whispered, eyes twinkling as a grin stretching across her whiskered face. The frog's tongue unrolled until the scroll was right in front of her; Naruko looked up inquisitively at the Toad Sage, the crushing hope almost knocking the breath out of her.

Jiraiya grinned. "Open the scroll. I'm sure you've already guessed this, but it's the summoning contract to the toads of Mount Myōboku." He watched as Naruko knelt to carefully unravel the scroll, revealing columns of names and fingerprints, all written in a dark red ink that resembled—

"Sign your name in your own blood and stamp the fingerprints of one hand in blood under that."

Yeah, it wasn't ink; it was blood.

"Then build up chakra in the place you want to summon and set down the hand you contracted. The signs are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram."

Naruko obediently bit her right thumb and started to write her name in an empty column. She tapped each finger against her bloodied thumb, and pressed all five fingers firmly to the empty space beneath her name.

"Good," Jiraiya smiled encouragingly. "Give it a try."

Naruko nodded and stood up, her hand contorting to the Boar sign.

 **"Don't worry, Kit,"** Kurama said calmly. **"Just because I loathe toads with a burning passion doesn't mean you'll be unable to summon them. Besides, I know for a fact your father would've been overjoyed to have you sign the contract. You have enough chakra control for this, and you're well-versed in the theory behind it. Just you keep a clear mind and don't over-channel your chakra. Or under-channel, for that matter."**

His jinchuuriki took a deep breath. ' _Great... thanks for the vote of confidence._ '

 **"You'll be fine. It's as easy as one..."**

Naruko began to weave the required sequence. ' _Boar... Dog... Bird... Monkey... Ram..._ '

 **"...two..."**

Slamming her right hand onto the ground the same way Jiraiya had during his demonstration, Naruko called out, "Summoning Jutsu!"

 **"...three!"**

A small ring of grey smoke surrounded Naruko before a young orange toad with purple markings around his eyes, mouth and stomach appeared. He was wearing a navy blue vest, and was small enough to fit on Naruko's head. The only reason Naruko knew this was because, before she or Jiraiya had the chance to say or do anything, the young toad had promptly hopped onto her head and made himself comfortable.

 **"Aha!"** Kurama sounded extremely pleased with himself. **"See? _See?_ What did I tell you?"**

"Hmm... not bad for your first try," Jiraiya grinned.

Naruko smiled brightly, and carefully tilted her head up so she could look at the summon. "Hi there, I'm Naruko Uzumaki. What's your name?"

"Gamakichi," the toad answered in a squeaky voice. "Nice to meetcha, Naruko Uzumaki. I'll be your personal summon from now on, if you'd like."

"Personal summon?"

"Yeah, you know, kind of like how the previous contractor always summoned Pops. When we're younger we're more of a companion, I guess." Gamakichi shrugged. "But usually, when you use the Summoning Jutsu, there's always a specific summon that'll always answer your call, unless they're incapacitated. Usually it's the first one you're able to summon." **(5)**

Naruko's face lit up. "That'd be great, Gamakichi."

The orange toad looked pleased, and even stretched himself out to lie more comfortably on the girl's head. Naruko didn't seem to mind. In fact, she started asking him questions about his likes and dislikes, pointing out that if he were to be her personal summon, they would be spending a lot of time together and therefore it would be in their best interests to know each other as well as possible. Gamakichi was more than happy to comply; he was, after all, a fairly young toad and despite being the eldest son of Gamabunta, was nothing like the grumpy chief.

The Toad Sannin felt something warm in his chest at the expression on his goddaughter's face — she only half-hid the emotions of joy, excitement and awe. Her eyes were twinkling almost as bright as stars against the dark sky, and for a moment, she was the spitting image of a particular redhead that his student had been infatuated with. But then Naruko glanced over at him with clear gratitude in her eyes, and her smile softened from an exuberant one to a smaller, albeit entirely genuine, smile. Jiraiya did a double take; it was Minato's smile on Kushina's face.

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile back, and Naruko turned back to her babbling summon. The Toad Sage sat down on the head of the toad he had summoned. It had been a long time since someone last looked at him like that. Jiraiya decided, right then and there, that he was going to take on Minato's child as his student, even if it meant he had to stay in the village. He'd be damned if he let his techniques and legacy die with him.

And maybe, she and that team over hers would be the next generation of the Legendary Sannin.

Jiraiya chuckled under his breath. ' _Huh... now_ that's _a thought._ '

* * *

On a Konoha rooftop, an ANBU squad was standing in a loose circle as hungry crows circled and squawked above them. The ANBU were staring silently at their fallen comrade, emotions hidden behind their individual porcelain masks.

The comrade in question had been a Tokubetsu Jonin — his green flak jacket was ripped as the aftermath of a Wind jutsu, and he was lying in a pool of his own blood.

A purple-haired woman reached down to pick up the katana that was lying beside the man's body. She was gripping the handle tightly, the long blade resting in her other palm as, behind the mask, her eyes moved from the katana to the former shinobi.

Her voice shook as she whispered aloud, "Hayate... what in the world happened?"

* * *

 **(1) So, funny story: exact thing happened when my cousin was staying at my house, and my family has a really bad habit of jumping to conclusions. So, when his brother mentioned in passing if they found a bra with specifications matching the unknown undergarment and to return it to him, naturally we came to the most insane conclusions. In the end, he had a secret girlfriend. I say "secret" because he was "waiting for the right moment" to tell us ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **(2) The _Nietono no Shana_ is the primary weapon the main character, Shana, uses in the anime **Shakugan no Shana **. Any special attacks with the nodachi also comes from the same anime**

 **(3) I literally searched up how much a nodachi costs, and it's between AUS $299 to $1185, but I converted $600 to ¥ and it was 40,656. Also apparently the ¥ is behind the number, which I find funny because in Australia the $ comes first. And yes, I'm a perfectionist and that means I do research :)**

 **(4) Fun fact: tadpoles are actually called polliwog. I thought it would be cute if Jiraiya had a nickname for Naruko which could also serve as something special between them**

 **(5) I figure since Naruko's a bit more advanced in terms of chakra control and ninjutsu, she would be able to do better than summon a mere tadpole on her first try. Also** **I don't really know about the specifics about personal summons, but Gamakichi was listed as Naruto's personal summon Narutopedia. I made it up the explanation because Gamakichi is always the one to answer Naruto's summon and he's kind of like a companion to Naruto**

 **A/N: So I'm thinking of doing a Q &A or something similar at the beginning of the next chapter, so if you guys have any questions about me or this fic, leave them below and I'll try to answer them in the next update! :)**


	13. Chuunin Exams: Phase 3

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **Not 100% satisfied with this chapter, but I probably never will be because I'm not great with improvising fight scenes.**

 **Also I do realize that Naruko and Sasuke's romantic relationship is taking quite a while in developing, but that's because 1) they're thirteen-years-old and most thirteen-year-olds don't date for reals at that age and 2) I've never been in a relationship myself so I don't really know how this works out, but I'm trying my best to develop their friendship first. Obviously Sasuke is already feeling something for Naruko, but he refuses to acknowledge it as anything important yet.**

 **Anyway, rant over; I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

"Hey sleepyhead, time to wake up~"

Naruko cracked her eyes open to see her smiling pink-haired teammate at her bedside. ' _What in the world...? Oh, right_.' Her head fell back as she remembered the previous day's events; the heaviness in her limbs came from using too much Kurama's chakra all at once, which she had no doubt done when she summoned the Chief Toad, Gamabunta. "I'm too tired to be alive," the girl grumbled.

Sakura laughed, the lilting sound carrying through the air. "Well, tomorrow is the third phase of the Chuunin Exams, so you better be a little more awake if you want to have a chance of winning against your opponent. Also, do you have a bag I can borrow?"

"The only bags I have are the ones under my eyes, and they are specifically designed to carry the burden of my existence."

Sakura sweatdropped. "All you had to say was no..."

"I wish the earth was flat so I could yeet myself off the edge," Naruko mumbled. She blinked in a sort of sluggish surprise when something cracked and Sakura was suddenly right in front of her.

"Are you okay? Sick? Depressed? Or is it chakra exhaustion? But that doesn't cause suicidal or depressive tendencies... should I get Kaka-sensei? Or Jiraiya-sama? He was the one who brought you here, you know—"

Naruko couldn't help smiling as her teammate's mother-hen side took over. "No, no, nothing like that... stop worrying, Sakura. I told you, I'm just T.I.R.E.D," she sighed, holding up a hand to tick off the letters as she spoke, "'T' for 'ticked off', 'I' for 'irritated', 'R' for 'ready to punch something', 'E' for 'extremely upset' and 'D' for 'done'."

Sakura looked sympathetically at her teammate and held our her arms. "Do you need a hug?"

Naruko looked at her for a moment before mumbling, "Yes." Smothering a laugh, Sakura shifted over to wrap her arms around her smaller friend. The blonde suddenly jerked, "The third phase is _tomorrow?"_

Sakura bit her lip to refrain from laughing at the genuinely horrified look on Naruko's face. "Yep. You've been hibernating for three days."

The blonde stared at her for a moment before falling back into bed and turning over. "Nope. Not happening. Wake me up in a few decades' time and I'll see how I feel then."

This time, Sakura did laugh. "Where have you been training, anyway? I couldn't find you for the whole month you had to train. Not even Gaara and Fuu knew where you were. Did you train with Jiraiya-sama the whole time?"

Naruko nodded. "He's my godfather, so I guess it was kind of his responsibility to train me, since Kaka-nii was training Sasuke in both his Lightning Release and his Sharingan."

" _Jiraiya-sama_ is your—" Sakura took a deep breath. "Naruko," she said sweetly, "why didn't you tell me about this discovery earlier?"

"Because Pervy Sage took me training right after," was the mumbled reply. Sakura sighed; looks like she wouldn't be getting a proper answer out of her exasperating — but still entirely lovable — teammate anytime soon. So she busied herself rummaging for the bento box she had brought with her when she decided that morning she would wake Naruko and have her eat something, or at least wake up for an hour or two.

"Alright you big baby, open up," the pinkette ordered with a playful lilt to her voice. Naruko's eye narrowed at her before brightening, and she obediently opened her mouth so Sakura could drop a tamagoyaki in. The blonde hummed appreciatively, rolling the egg around in her mouth.

"Are you serious?" a voice deadpanned from the doorway, and both girls turned to see Sasuke looking at them with no small amount of amusement.

"Why? Do you want me to feed you too?" Sakura teased, holding up a cherry tomato. "Say _ah~_ "

Sasuke rolled his eyes but opened his mouth anyway, allowing the pinkette to throw the small red bleb into his mouth. The Uchiha sat down on the other side of Naruko's bed, "So. Knocked yourself out for three days with chakra exhaustion. Didn't think that was possible with you and the absurd amount of chakra you have, dobe."

Naruko pulled a face. "Even I overdo it sometimes, teme." She attempted to sit up, but her body protested and so she settled for propping herself up on her elbows. "So how did your — _mmmppphhh, Fakuwa!_ — twaining wif Kaka-nii gwo?"

Sasuke's mouth twisted in amusement. "Sakura, I thought you knew better than to feed this fox when she's speaking. She's too stubborn to stop mid-sentence just so she can chew and swallow like a normal person."

The pinkette shrugged unrepentantly. "She needs the nutrients, her mouth is open, I don't see what the problem is."

Naruko swallowed deliberately, glaring playfully at her teammates. "I would be insulted and kick you out of my room if I didn't know it was true."

"That, and you love us," Sakura laughed.

"Well," Naruko pondered it for a moment, "if you loved me the way I love you... why didn't you bring me ramen?" she pouted. The pinkette slapped the back of her head lightly and started to lecture her on food groups and "proper diets for growing girls, especially shinobi" while Sasuke smirked at his teammate's misfortune, taking the liberty to steal another cherry tomato. Or two.

And that was how Kakashi found them; Sasuke leaning against the footboard with his sandals on the floor and his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, close enough to Naruko's blanket-covered legs that his foot was nudging her knee. His dark eyes were uncharacteristically soft and shining with mirth and affection, his usual guarded expression nowhere in sight. There was even a slight slouch in his posture, and he appeared to be perfectly at ease. Sakura was sitting cross-legged on the side of Naruko's bed closest to the doorway, an empty bento box in her lap. Naruko sat propped up against the headboard, content as she listened to Sakura enthusiastically prattle on without even taking a breath about something that had a high likelihood of being medic-related — did that girl talk about anything _other_ than medical ninjutsu in the past month? — while her hands were in the air and gesturing animatedly.

"...and then she showed us how to extract poison, whether we knew the substance or not, with just— oh, Kaka-sensei!" Sakura smiled brightly at the grey-haired Jonin, who had, up until now, been content watching them interact. Kakashi was both surprised and pleased to note that Sasuke still retained his relaxed posture, even when his sensei's presence was announced. Huh, perhaps Sandaime-sama had been onto something, that this team really would turn out to be the best thing that happened to each individual of Team 7. Including himself.

Kakashi pushed himself off the doorjamb and gave his Genin team a two-finger salute. "Yo," he greeted in his usual monotone. "Didn't expect to see you all here." The unspoken ' _but I'm happy you are_ ' was a given.

"Well, _someone_ has to make sure Naruko eats properly," Sakura said pointedly.

Kakashi pretended to be offended. "And what do you call what I've been doing for the past three or so years?"

"Oh, I don't know... the word "lenient" comes to mind?"

The Jonin chuckled, reaching out to ruffle his indignant Genin's hair. "Alright, I admit I'm not the expert on taking care of others. But I try my best."

Sasuke "hn"ed, and when Naruko poked his foot, he rolled his eyes and spoke a proper sentence that consisted of; "I taught myself everything in the past month."

Kakashi gave a mock-gasp, his hand flying to his chest. "How dare you insinuate I failed to teach you anything, my dear _Sasuke-kun!_ Do you regard the original jutsu I oh-so-lovingly imparted to you as nothing?"

The Uchiha pretended to think about it for a brief moment and then corrected himself, "I taught myself _almost_ everything in the past month."

Kakashi sighed dramatically as his female Genin snickered with not even an ounce of sympathy. Sasuke smirked, looking rather smugly satisfied. Despite being the victim of relentless verbal abuse, the Jonin couldn't help smiling fondly at them as Sakura shifted to allow space for him to sit on Naruko's hospital bed.

Team 7's Genin continued their previous conversation, and Kakashi watched with a fondness he never thought he'd have the opportunity to nurture as he observed the thirteen-year-olds.

As the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi — not that Sakura and Sasuke knew that — Naruko had a nearly limitless supply of chakra, allowing her to be the 'powerhouse' of the team. She was also fast, to the point where she could potentially become the next Yellow Flash. She was unpredictable and a bit of a knucklehead, but she somehow managed to twist that into her favour when in field. It was remarkable to watch her fight, because she could switch from the basic taijutsu form to a specialized form with ninjutsu thrown in randomly, and then switch to one that had never been seen before. You never knew what she would throw at you and that always kept you on your toes, no matter how long you had known her or how good you were at reading body language.

And where Naruko lacked intellect and a clear mind, Sasuke and Sakura combined more than made up for it. It wasn't to say Naruko was dumb; she was actually rather smart, but she allowed her battle instincts to take over more often than not. Sasuke, quite predictably, was the 'prodigy'; a fast learner with the beginnings of a unique skill set that Kakashi was sure would develop well. He was incredibly intuitive, most likely due to his high observation skills. The Uchiha was also able to apply knowledge to the field in most circumstances; in other words, he was less rash than Naruko and had a good sense of when to restrain his teammate and when not to.

Meanwhile, Sakura was the medic of the team, and had the best chakra control of the three. Her intellect and quick-thinking far outshone Sasuke's, and her teammates knew it. This allowed for them to put aside their own opinions — or pride in some cases — and act out her strategies. Most of the time, though, Sakura didn't even need to say a word; they practically spent day and night with each other for the past year, and so it was understandable that they were close enough that they could read each other's body language in field.

They had come a long way from when they first graduated, both as individuals and as a three-man-team. They were young, and had many flaws, but they had something not even the most seasoned ANBU would understand — while they were acutely aware of their weaknesses and worked hard to minimize them, they allowed themselves to draw strength from each other and allowed their teammates to compensate for their minor shortcomings.

Sasuke was proud and single-track-minded.

 _But Naruko wasn't afraid to pound some sense into him and Sakura never backed down when it came to her teammates' health and safety. Being too proud to take orders fell into that category._

Naruko was rash and too independent.

 _But Sasuke was good at reading her and knew when to appropriately restrain her, either with a mere look, a murmured word, or a simple touch. And Sakura would never let either of her teammates go into battle alone, regardless of their reasoning._

Sakura had low chakra reserves and wasn't physically strong.

 _But her on-the-spot strategies had gotten her team out of a sticky situation more than once, and Naruko and Sasuke were more than willing to protect her. In turn, Sakura would always be there to heal them. She had developed a sharp eye for when her teammates were hiding injuries; both sensei and Genin had quickly learnt to never attempt such a thing._

"Kaka-sensei?"

Kakashi blinked and realized his three gremlins were looking at him with varying levels of concern. Not sure if they had asked him a question and he failed to answer, or they had noticed him spacing out, Kakashi simply opted to give them his typical eye-smile as he reached out to ruffle Sasuke's hair with his left hand hand and pat Sakura's hand with his right. Naruko's eyes told him that she understood more than enough.

"I'm proud of you. All of you."

* * *

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruko frowned, scanning the group of preliminary victors — Neji Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, the Sand Siblings and Fuu's teammate Yōrō.

"The Dosu-guy I'm supposed to fight isn't here, either," Shikamaru noted from his place beside the blonde.

"Hey, you kids. Throw out your chests and show your faces to the spectators— oh, man, it's _you_. Uh, I mean..."

Naruko smirked at the brunette man with a senbon between his teeth. "Hiya, Genma-nii." She heard Shikamaru mutter something suspiciously like, " _Another one?"_ and snickered under her breath.

Naruko obediently looked up, and found there were at least three stands full of loudly-cheering spectators. She set her jaw; that only made her more determined to win. But then she realized something; if Genma was the proctor, what happened to Hayate? Said Jonin didn't seem tense at the latter's absence... the blonde decided to shrug it off as Hayate having a mission out of the village. It was a little odd to suddenly switch the proctors, but she needed all of her focus to be on her upcoming match. Besides, Hayate was a Tokubetsu Jonin, and Yugao was always there to back him up.

"You guys are the "stars" of the final round," Genma murmured through the senbon.

From one of the uppermost levels, the Hokage questioned the Jonin beside him, "Sasuke hasn't been found yet?"

"A team of several ANBU members are searching all over," the shinobi reported, "but they have found nothing." He leaned down to whisper into the Hokage's ear, "He might already be in the hands of Orochimaru. If that's the case, we may never find him."

Hiruzen closed his eyes. "I understand."

Just then, the four invited Kage and their bodyguards arrived — the Raikage, the Mizukage, the Kazekage and the Takikage.

From below, the Sand Siblings noticeably tensed at the arrival of their father. Naruko shivered at the sheer distaste and hatred rolling off them, but smiled reassuringly when Gaara shot a look of apology her way. Gaara looked mildly concerned, but said nothing else.

"Everyone, thank you very much for coming, to Konohagakure's Chuunin Exams," the Hokage's voice boomed over the stadium and successfully quieting all conversations and cheers. "We will now begin the final round matches for the eight who made it through the preliminaries. Please watch until the end!"

"If there are supposed to be eight, it looks like one is missing," the Kazekage commented.

"I have something to tell you before the match," Genma said, reaching into his flak jacket and withdrawing a piece of paper. "Look at this. There was a slight change to the tournament. Check who you'll be facing one more time."

Shikamaru's eye visibly twitched. ' _Here, I had more preliminary matches than the others... so the Dosu-guy dropped out?'_

Gaara's eye narrowed at the lack of the name; _"I thought I'd pound you here... if I did that, there'd be the possibility for me, as the one remaining after the first battle, to fight Sasuke."_ He clenched his jaw at the memory of the Sound nin's words. He quickly forced himself into a less-murderous state of mind when he felt Isobu, Saiken, Gyuki and Kurama brush lightly against his conscience, either as a gentle pull back to reality, a warning or reassurance, he couldn't tell. He was grateful for them either way.

"Hey, Genma," Naruko said quietly, dropping the suffix so as to not arouse accusations of bias, "Sasuke's still not here. Do you know what might happen?" Her voice was soft, but her eyes were hard. ' _He was fine yesterday... and knowing his character, he'd come here even if he had to drag himself._ ' She paused. ' _I swear, if Kaka-nii's habit of being inconveniently late to everything has been rubbing off on him, I'm going to_ throttle _them_ both.'

"In case a competitor does not arrive by the start time of his match..." Genma bit down hard on his senbon, sending it flying up. "He or she will lose by default." The proctor then cleared his throat, settling his hands on his hips. "Listen up, you guys. The terrain is different, but the rule is there are no rules — the same as the preliminaries. The matches will continue until one or the other dies or acknowledges defeat. However, if I judge that it has been settled, I'll stop the match there. Arguments will not be allowed. Understood?"

Apparently, they had learned from Hinata and Neji's match.

"So, the first match is... Naruko Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga." Genma glanced between the Genin. "Those two will remain while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

The five Genin obeyed, and Naruko felt a small tendril of sand brush the back of her neck, as if wishing her luck. Naruko smiled; ' _Thank you, Gaara_.' She glanced up to see Yagura leaning on the railing, smiling down at her. She smiled back. She could make out Bee and Utakata's figures, but they were too far away for her to see their faces. One more glance at the stands showed Kiba helping Hinata over to where Sakura was waving at them from beside Ino and Fuu. Naruko was glad Hinata had friends to help her out. Thanks to increased hearing, she heard Kiba's remark of, "This match should be interesting." And privately, she agreed.

' _You ready, furball?'_

Kurama rumbled in anticipation, for once fully-awake. **"Don't you dare draw on my chakra to the point where it's visible as a chakra cloak,"** he warned. **"But I will consent to lending you some just in case you need to perform a massive jutsu, or you plan on using your nodachi. But _no more_ — got it?"**

' _Got it_ ,' Naruko chirped. Throughout the past month, Naruko had alternated between training with Jiraiya and training with Kurama. While Jiraiya taught her the Summoning Jutsu and gave her the pointers on forming a Rasengan to the point where she could do it by herself, Kurama had instructed her on how to use the Nietono no Shana properly. First, she had gone through all that Zabuza had taught her, and then the Bijuu began to teach her the fundamental basics of the possible moves she could do with them before allowing her to experiment.

 **"Wait... Kit, look behind the row to the right of Kotestu and Izumo."**

Naruko obeyed, and her eyes narrowed instantly. ' _What are ANBU Black Ops doing here?'_ A dark feeling of foreboding curled in her stomach. ' _Is something going on?'_

 **"I don't know,"** Kurama muttered, **"but I don't like it one bit. We'll talk later, once you beat the whole superiority complex out of this punk."**

Naruko blinked, refocusing her attention. ' _Right_.' She started to walk forward into the middle of the arena, meeting Neji there halfway.

"You seem like you want to say something," Neji observed, amusement that seemed mocking was heard clearly in his voice.

Naruko simply held out her fist the same way she had back in the preliminaries. "I said it before, didn't I?" she said with a calm that could only foreshadow a storm. "I'll win, no matter what."

"Why do you act against your fate? You fight hard against it, but ultimately, it is futile," Neji said coldly.

"Why?" Naruko smiled sardonically. "It's because I was called a failure."

Neji closed his lavender eyes and the cool amusement left his face. When he opened them again, the veins around his eyes were bulging — he had activated the Byakugan. ' _She has the look of being sure of herself... it's as if she's not at all worked up._ ' Neji let out a quiet, bitter chuckle as he shifted into his clan's famed Jyuuken stance. "That makes it all the more worthwhile for me. I look forward to your look of disappointment when you know the true reality..."

"Stop whining," Naruko spoke through gritted teeth as her chakra flared, stirring up the dust into a ring that surrounded herself, Neji and Genma. "Let's get started."

' _Well, if your goal was to get her angry at you, you've done it, Hyuuga_ ,' Fuu grimaced, ' _and a very thorough job at that._ '

Killer Bee narrowed his eyes slightly. This had an uncanny resemblance to when he sparred with Yugito on one of her bad days. ' _That was the calm that hid the storm, and now it's brewing. You better watch yourself, Neji Hyuuga._ ' The shinobi barely suppressed his grin. ' _Despite the fact they share no blood, there's no doubt about it — they're definitely mother and daughter._ '

Genma grinned; some things never changed — and that included Naruko's unwavering loyalty and determination. He then declared, "Alright, now let the first match... begin!"

There was a tense silence that followed; Genma bit down repeatedly on his senbon, while Neji and Naruko remained in a stare-off of sorts.

"Watch carefully, Hanabi," Hiashi Hyuuga commanded his youngest daughter from their place in the stands. "Nobody has inherited such a strong Hyuuga kekkei genkai. To say nothing of your older sister."

Seven-year-old Hanabi made a noise of surprise. "More than nee-san?"

"Perhaps more than you, too," was the only reply she received. Hanabi's eyes widened, and she returned her attention to the match with a newfound determination.

Naruko inhaled deeply through her nose; it was clear Neji wasn't going to start. Biting the inner flesh of her cheek, she paused. ' _I wonder..._ '

 **"Kit... do I want to know what you're thinking?"**

Naruko smirked. ' _Probably not_.' With that said, she suddenly whipped out three kunai and shot it at the Hyuuga prodigy. Naruko was somewhat impressed when Neji caught one and used it to halt the second kunai while knocking the third into a nearby tree trunk. She ran straight at her opponent, attempting a punch. Predictably, Neji knocked it aside without even flinching. Using the momentum, Naruko flipped and then launched herself off the ground, sending a flurry of attacks at him. Neji dodged or countered them all with the same cocky smirk on his face.

' _Looks like it'll take a lot more than just taijutsu to beat him_ ,' Naruko mused. She smirked right back at Neji, causing his eyes to narrow before he was forced to dodge a kick at his jaw. Before he could spring back up again, Naruko quickly shot a blisteringly-hot spew of fire from her mouth; ' _Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!'_

"I would yell at her for attacking upfront... but then I remember just exactly who's fighting," a pinkette kunoichi in the spectator stands sighed in resignation.

Fuu grinned; looks like her teammates were learning to accept her sister's impulsive tendencies. "She has a plan," the kunoichi reassured her new friend. "Naruko never attacks without having planned ahead at least a step or two. Even if she has to change the plan in the middle of combat, she'll make it work. To her, tactics and strategy is just one big puzzle with pieces that can change at any given moment. They're not always the best, but she somehow makes it work."

Sakura huffed a laugh. "It's because she can adapt frighteningly fast, and that's what makes her unpredictable. I've only just started getting past the stage where she sends me into cardiac arrest every time she does something incredibly stupid yet ingenious... good lanta, she's an oxymoron in physical form, isn't she?" Sakura sighed in despair while Fuu laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Since Kurama was immune to fire, Naruko drew upon his chakra to coat her skin similarly to how Gaara used his Sand Armour. Under the cover of the Flame Bullet, she propelled herself forward and slammed her head into Neji's chest. Neji struck out blindly and managed to pinch one of the tenketsu points in her shoulders.

' _She's fast_ ,' Neji conceded, ' _maybe just a little slower than Lee. Impressive... but nothing I can't handle_.' After all, he had trained under a possibly-mental Taijutsu Specialist.

Naruko grimaced as she experimentally prodded her shoulder. ' _He's probably memorized the entire body... maybe I_ should _listen to Sakura's impromptu medical lectures more often._ '

 **"Be careful,"** Kurama cautioned. **"I'd hate for you to lose in front of your family and the big-ass crowd watching."**

' _Thanks for the vote of confidence._ '

 **"Anytime."**

As the flames died, Neji managed another punch at Naruko's chest which she spun into her favor by flipping midair and slamming her foot into his torso. The closed tenketsu point didn't affect her as much because she could always fall back on Kurama's chakra to force it back open, but it wasn't ideal in the least, making it a loss she had to take into consideration.

"You understand, right?" Neji called over to her. "You have no way of winning."

Naruko smirked. "Oh believe me... I only did that to verify your power." She formed the oh-so-familiar sign of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, producing four more copies of herself.

Yagura looked on in amused curiosity; the Shadow Clone Jutsu was a Jonin-level technique due to the high risks it posed to shinobi with normal-sized chakra reserves — because let's face it; jinchuuriki were monsters when it came to chakra reserves — so either Kurama had taught her an alternative for the Academy-required Clone Jutsu, or Naruko had somehow managed to sneak into forbidden archives and learnt it because of sheer curiosity. Knowing his troublesome sister, the latter was more than plausible.

' _Shadow Clone Jutsu?' _Neji hid his bafflement as he scrutinized the clones. ' _Oh, I see. If chakra is evenly distributed among the clones... indeed, I can't detect the real one, even with my Byakugan._' Keeping the smirk on his face, Neji told her, "But there's only one real one, after all."

"Heh, don't be acting tough," all five Narukos teased.

"Ohmylanta," Gaara muttered, horrified, "now I understand why Yagura always makes such a big deal out of it. That is _so_ creepy."

"If you're going to come, then come," Neji demanded.

 **"Come?"** Kurama perked up. **"Why, if I had known you were so eager, I would've—"**

' _Cut it out, you big perv!'_ Naruko almost screamed, mortified. ' _You big lump of fur, you and I are going to have_ words _after this._ '

Kurama wisely stayed silent.

The four clones rushed at Neji, who narrowed his eyes at them. He slammed his hands onto two of the heads, flipping over them. The instant his feet touched the ground, two more clones ran at him, but he instantly slammed their elbows off-course. The real Naruko brought up her knee to aim an upwards strike at his chin, only to miss as Neji jumped in a way that made it seem like the kick had connected. The previous two Narukos rushed at Neji, but he wasn't called a prodigy for nothing — Neji launched into the air and slammed the heel of his foot into one head and kicked the other one away. They both disappeared in a plume of fast-dissipating smoke. He quickly dealt with the remaining two clones as well, striking them in the chest with such force that the observing Genin grimaced; the preliminary match between the two Hyuugas was anything but forgotten.

Naruko calmly stood there as the clones popped around him. ' _Does he have eyes behind him?'_ she wondered. She never really read up on the Byakugan, which she was starting to regret.

 **"No. Individuals with a Byakugan have a near-360⁰ field of vision around themselves, save for the small blindspot above the thoracic vertebra."**

' _The... what?'_

 **"Back of the neck. The Byakugan's vision can penetrate almost any object, allowing users to see through walls, peer underground or even examine the contents of a person's body. Only certain barriers can block a Byakugan's sight. Users can focus their vision on anything and everything within the Byakugan's range — with this particular punk I'd say his range is around fifty meters, give or take a few."**

' _I knew there was a reason why I don't read textbooks,_ ' Naruko said a little too happily. ' _I have my own library right here._ '

"You're going to become the Hokage?" Neji turned to Naruko with a cruel smirk. "At this level—"

He was cut off when suddenly Naruko disappeared, leaving him momentarily nonplussed before there was a shout of, "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" **(1)** and the girl came crashing down on him, a large stream of fire trailing behind both arms. Reflexively, Neji emitted chakra from his tenketsu points, blocking the attack that would've otherwise simultaneously sent him flying and given him minor burns.

"That's..." Hiashi's grip on his kimono-clothed knees tightened as he recognized the use of the Hyuuga main house's secret taijutsu. "Rotation."

Naruko was thrown back as Neji started spinning, a dome of protective chakra forming around him. "Ah, that's just annoying," she muttered as she landed neatly in a crouch, though she was forced to skid back a few feet.

Neji, who had stopped rotating, and was regarding his opponent carefully after the unexpected Fire-based jutsu. Naruko merely smirked at him before racing at her opponent, drawing on a bit of her chakra to increase her speed even further. Assuming she was making a foolish attempt in taijutsu again, Neji slid into his Jyuuken stance. However, he was unprepared for the flash bomb thrown right into his face.

Neji let out a cry of pain; due to the enhanced eyesight his Byakugan granted him, it only made him more sensitive to the blinding light. A clone burst from the ground and grabbed his ankles, hurtling him straight up into the air. Naruko launched off the ground to meet him halfway, and they engaged in a brief airborne taijutsu battle — Naruko lashed out with her left leg which Neji evaded only by hearing the shift in the air, but was forced to dodge the right hook that followed up immediately. Vision barely clearing enough to see the blurry outline of the other Genin, Neji attempted a punch at Naruko's exposed back, but thanks to Kurama's "sixth sense" and honed reflexes, she was able to raise her left arm to block just in time. Using her own momentum, she swung her right leg in a sweeping wide-arc kick, forcing Neji to lean backwards in order to avoid it.

All too soon, gravity called and they were forced to land, a few feet of empty space being all that stood between the two Genin. Neji was given no time to regain his bearings as the blonde began to attack him with a flurry of punches and kicks from behind. However, he was quickly able to deduce the laughably-transparent pattern of her attacks, and with the small gap, he slid into the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms stance.

Wasting no time, Neji started to jab at all the tenketsu points on Naruko's body with such speed that she was rendered unable to move out of the path of the relentless attack. "Four Palms... Eight Palms... Sixteen Palms... Thirty-Two Palms... Sixty-Four Palms!" When Naruko was sent flying back, Neji slowly eased back into his normal stance. "I pressed all sixty-four chakra points all over your body. You can't even stand. "Your dreams will come true if you just work hard"? It's an illusion."

Yagura's grip on the railing tightened. ' _C'mon Naru, use what we taught you_.'

Naruko glanced up at her opponent with a smirk. "Don't assume things." She arched her back, and golden chains started to sweep out, snapping towards the Hyuuga and binding him tightly and lift him into the air.

"What—" Neji struggled against the chains, but they only tightened with every move he made.

"Adamantine Sealing Chains," Naruko said softly, a profound sadness shining in her blue eyes. "You aren't the only one with a kekkei genkai. I just choose not to flaunt it."

Neji's eyes widened as inked characters started to run across the chains until they covered the golden surface under a matter of seconds. Once that was done, Naruko raised her right hand in the Ram sign. " _Kai_." The chains that were still wrapped around the Hyuuga prodigy suddenly exploded, and half a second later, so did the blonde girl.

The Mizukage's grip relaxed. ' _Atta girl_.'

Genma's senbon fell from his mouth. ' _What in Kami's name has Kakashi been teaching her? And the Adamantine Sealing Chains? Kushina Uzumaki's kekkei genkai... I thought only full-blooded Uzumaki's had that, even then, only the clan head's family or the most elite of the clan._' **(2)**

"I forgot," Fuu sighed as she watched Naruko emerge from behind a boulder. "She's a blockhead, but when she's fighting, her mind is a steel trap."

"Wait, what just happened?" Ino demanded, her pale blue eyes going back and forth between the unscathed blonde and her opponent, who was down on one knee and breathing hard. The explosive tags hadn't been anything too bad, but they did pack quite a punch.

"Well," Fuu said thoughtfully, "it seems the Naruko that attacked him from behind was just a Shadow Clone. Sometime between catching the Hyuuga and exploding, the chains went black, right? I'm pretty sure that was some sort of fūinjutsu that I don't know the name of and frankly don't want to know, because Naruko is scary when she gets on one of those rants. Anyway, she seems to have been able to animate the explosive seal designs in a way similar to Pineapple-Head's shadow-stringy-something-jutsu." **(3)**

"So animating the explosive seal designs causes the chains to explode?" Sakura's eyebrows flew sky-high.

"Well, the chains are essentially Naruko's chakra. How the Adamantine Sealing Chains work is by molding the user's chakra into extremely durable chains which can be used for various purposes such as directly combating, physically restraining targets or creating barriers. It's a fūinjutsu specific to the Uzumaki Clan... so I guess you can call it a kekkei genkai."

"Chakra explodes? Can you even do that?"

"Not in the sense you're thinking — chakra bursts and flares, you're familiar with, right? It's kind of like a variation of this, except because the chakra has been molded into chains, it can have a more... volatile tendency. I have no idea how she managed it, but I do know it had fūinjutsu in there somewhere, and she linked the chains' explosion to the clone's chakra system. I'm assuming there was a massive backlash to that particular move, which is why she used a clone instead of doing it herself."

"You know her well," Hinata commented quietly.

Fuu shrugged with a smile. "Live a few years with her and you get to be pretty good at figuring her out. Of course, she's still wildly unpredictable, but you can detect her train of thought _after_ she's carried her attacks out. It's very interesting, watching her fight."

Neji and Naruko appeared to have come to a standstill, as Naruko waited patiently for Neji to catch his breath.

"Neji, I have a question," Naruko said quietly, though in the arena it sounded like a shout. "Why did you, with a look like you've seen through it all, go after Hinata, who was trying so hard?"

Neji's eyes narrowed. "It has nothing to do with you."

Naruko met Neji's glare evenly. "Mocking Hinata... selfishly labeling her as a failure as you please... head family, branch family... I don't know what happened to you, but I won't forgive a jerk who would call another person a failure."

Yagura couldn't help the soft, affectionate smirk that curled his lips. ' _There's that self-righteous prick I know. Always sticking her nose into something and making it better_.'

"Fine — if you insist, I will tell you about the Hyuuga destiny of hatred."

 **"Sounds ominous,"** Kurama commented sarcastically. **"I'm shaking in my boots. _Oh no, it's a horror story. Papa, Mama, save me!"_** he wailed in a high-pitched voice. Naruko internally rolled her eyes and pulled up a mental block; this was not the time for his jokes.

"In the Hyuuga head family, there is a secret ninjutsu that's been passed on from generation to generation." Neji's face was contorted with hate. "That is Juinjutsu."

' _Juinjutsu... the Curse Mark Arts..._ ' Naruko's eyes widened slightly. ' _Don't tell me—_ '

Neji closed his eyes. "The Curse Mark represents a bird in a cage... and it's a mark of those who are bound to a destiny they cannot escape." He reached up and untied his hitai-ate, bearing his forehead. It held a green X with two hooked lines on either side that vaguely reminded her of the Mizukage's staff. **(4)**

"That mark," Naruko murmured. ' _Fascinating. Do you think he'll let me study it, Kurama?'_

 **"What in the world for, Kit? He's bitter enough about it as it is, and this seal is obviously a cause of grief for him. Why would he want an underclassman studying his forehead on top of all of that?"**

' _Well... I want to know what it can do, and I also want to see if I can undo it. If I can undo this juinjutsu, then wouldn't that help a little in getting rid of Sasuke's curse mark?'_

 **"Hmm... you make a valid point."**

"One day, when I was four-years-old," Neji explained, "this accursed mark was inscribed on my forehead with juinjutsu. A large ceremony was held in Konoha that day. It was also the day when the Head Ninja of Kumogakure, the land that Konoha had fought with for many years, came to the conclusion of the allied treaty. However, there was one clan that didn't attend the ceremony that was attended to by everyone else, from Jonin to Genin. It was the Hyuuga clan, and it was because that day was the day of hope when the head family heir turned three — Hinata-sama's third birthday."

Neji shifted to look up at where he knew his uncle and youngest cousin were sitting.

"My father, Hizashi Hyuuga, and Hinata-sama's father who's over there, Hiashi Hyuuga, were twin brothers. However, Hinata-sama's father, Hiashi-sama, is the eldest son of the head family, born into this world first. And my father, the second son, was a member of the branch family. When the head heir grew and became three-years-old, I had the curse mark imprinted on me, and I became a bird in the cage. And became the Hyuuga branch family."

"Why is it necessary to do something like that?" Naruko asked. She already had a pretty good idea of the reason behind the curse mark, so she further clarified, "Why separate a head family and a branch family?"

"The mark on my forehead isn't just decoration," Neji told her bitterly. "This curse mark is the absolute fear called "death", so to speak, that was given to the branch family by the head family. The Secret Sign that the head family members form easily destroys the cerebral nerves of those in the branch family. Of course, killing is easy. And this mark only goes away at time of death — sealing away the power of the Byakugan."

Naruko's eyes dimmed a little; now she understood what Gai had been implying when he said Neji had a burden similar to her own. A caged bird, forced to do the bidding of the main house... was that almost just as bad as being the jailer of the creature that had nearly destroyed an entire Hidden Village?

"The Hyuuga family is the clan that possesses the most distinctive kekkei genkai. There's no end to those who target the secret of that distinctive power. In other words, the curse mark keeps the branch family alive only to protect the head family, and does not allow disobedience. It's an effective system created to defend the Byakugan for eternity. And then, that incident occurred." Neji closed his eyes at the mere mention.

"My father was killed by the head family."

Naruko's eyes widened.

"One night, Hinata-sama was snatched up by someone. At that time Hiashi-sama immediately rushed off and killed the abductor. Who do you think that person was... who was in the shadows and also wearing a mask? It was the Head Ninja of Kumogakure who had just signed the peace treaty. It was clear that he came targeting the secrets of the Byakugan from the start."

Bee instantly grabbed at his brother's arm, slamming him back down onto the chair. A glared at him, but Bee returned it with just as much force. " _Let_ _the kid speak_. He was just four — he don't know the full story, and clearly no one has told him," he muttered into the Raikage's ear. A was startled that Bee wasn't rapping, which only indicated his seriousness. And so, begrudgingly, A settled down into his seat again.

"However, the Land of Lightning exploited the killing of their own ninja due to a botched plan, and set an outrageous condition in violation of the treaty with Konoha. Naturally, things got worse and worse, and there was almost a war between Konoha and Kumo. However Konoha, who wanted to end the war, made a deal with Kumo."

Then Naruko was struck by a memory — once, when she had been very young, her mother and Blue B had come home, the former seething with a palpable fury while the latter tried to calm her down, even if he was obviously livid himself. Naruko didn't remember everything clearly, but apparently Kurama did...

* * *

 _The door banged open and loud, angry voices filled the previously-silent air. Naruko, who was in her room, jumped at the sudden intrusion. She recognized her mother and her big brother, Blue B, but something stopped her from running out to greet them. Her senses were screaming about danger. Naruko was only three-years-old, but she could already tell something was terribly wrong._

 _"Where's Naruko?" her mother's harried voice shouted from the other side of the hallway._

 _"Yugito, what—"_

 _"Where is Naruko?" the kunoichi only repeated, louder and more forceful this time._

 _"She's colouring in her room. But Yugito—"_

 _Footsteps cut her off, and there was a startled yelp; "Good lanta, woman! Watch where you're going!"_

 _"Not now, Yagura!" Yugito snapped with more harshness than necessary._

 _"Remind me to never get in the way of Mama-Cat," was all Yagura muttered. There was a light slap, and then someone — Utakata, probably — dragged the sandy-haired boy away._

 _Naruko stayed perfectly still until her bedroom door was flung open and her mother rushed in. The three-year-old squeaked in surprise when arms suddenly wound around her and held her close, but didn't protest at being taken away from her colouring book as she would've normally done. Naruko, unsure of what was going on, clung to the warmth and familiarity that she associated with home. Something bad happened; her mother was scared and angry. She could_ feel _it._

 _Yugito's hands kept running through her hair and down her back in an almost frantic pattern, and she was holding Naruko so tightly she had to strain to breathe._

 _Mio suddenly appeared in the doorway, her eyes full of concern. "Yugito-nee, what in the_ world _happened?" she asked in bewilderment, though her voice didn't rise above its usual gentle tone._ _Yugito turned to face her, and the two females exchanged soft murmurs before Yugito reluctantly stepped out of Naruko's bedroom, though she refused to put the three-year-old down. Naruko whimpered as the dark feeling of danger seemed to increase as they neared the living room, and Yugito quickly soothed her._

 _Once in the living room, Naruko lifted her head to see Yagura and Utakata sitting patiently on the couch, with Blue B pacing agitatedly on the floor. The man's head jerked around as they entered, and he instantly held his arms out, silently requesting to hold the girl._ _Yugito's grip tightened, but she relinquished her daughter to Blue B. Slowly, the dark feeling of danger started to dissipate. Naruko would later learn that the "danger" had been Killing Intent, and despite everyone's attempts, nothing would calm him. Handing her over to him had been a gamble of the shinobi's brotherly instincts overriding his anger._

 _"What happened?" Mio's soft voice repeated as she gently guided Yugito to sit beside Utakata on the couch. A tray of green tea was already on the coffee table, ready to be claimed._

 _Yugito gave an aggravated sigh, roughly yanking her hair free from its braid. "The Head Ninja of Kumo — I can't be bothered remembering his name — tried to kidnap the three-year-old Hyuuga heiress."_

 _Naruko winced, but refused to utter a single sound as her brother's hug tightened to the point of being painful._

 _"Her father, Hiashi Hyuuga, killed him just to get his daughter back." Yugito scoffed, running her hand through her hair. "I would've done exactly the same thing. But Kumo's set on denying all affiliations with the botched kidnapping, and the damned council is demanding Hyuuga's head as compensation. They claim it's "their right as part of the peace treaty", those old war hawks." She scowled deeply. "They don't want to end the Kami-forsaken war; all they want is knowledge on the Byakugan."_

 _Yagura piped up, "So is that why you tore down the halls in a frenzy to find Naru-chan?"_

 _Yugito glared half-heartedly at him. "I was_ not _in a frenzy."_

 _"Yes, you were," the teenager deadpanned. He kicked back onto the sofa, resting his cheek on his fist. "Although, I would've done the same," he admitted. "It's like when you have a pet, and you see an abused animal of the same species... you just want to go home and hug that pet, you know?"_

 _"Not quite the same, but we understand the comparison," Utakata rolled his eyes, and looked over at Blue B. "You and Yugito-nee feel this strongly about it because Naru-chan is the same age as the Hyuuga heiress, right?"_

 _A muscle feathered in Blue B's jaw, and grunted in affirmation. From beside him, Utakata heard Yugito sigh, but didn't deny it. And for this particular kunoichi, that was as good as a yes._

 _Naruko, feeling a little nervous, reached out to her mother. Blue B obliged her by walking closer, and Naruko patted her mother's cheek in what she hoped was a comforting way. "Kaa-chan?" she asked uncertainly. "Okay?"_

 _Yugito took another deep breath, and smiled tightly at her daughter, reaching out to take her back into her arms. "I will be," she murmured, smoothing back the bright blonde hair. "It's just... some people have been very bad, and because they were stupid, others have been hurt," she said almost absent-mindedly._

 _"Bad?" Naruko tilted her head. "Give them time-out?"_

 _Yugito almost smiled in amusement at the toddler's simplistic train of thought. "If only the world was that easy, Naru-chan," she murmured. There was a heavy silence for a few minutes, until the door swung open and Roshi's boisterous voice filled the cave-house._

 _"How have you been, guys? The Great Roshi has returned from Iwa!" He practically bounced into the room with a bright grin. "Long time no see, it's been like a hundred years, I got you souvenirs!" His face dropped as he deadpanned flatly, "Wow, do you all look gloomy."_

 _Naruko couldn't help but giggle at the way her grandfather went from his speaking-without-even-taking-a-breath greeting to a blunt statement while losing his exuberance like a deflating balloon._

 _"Ugh... this is so like us to walk in on awkwardness," Han sighed in resignation as he came up behind his fellow Iwa shinobi._

 _Yugito shook herself slightly and gave a strained smile at the red-clad shinobi. "It's nothing too important — I'll fill you in later."_

 _Roshi nodded; that was Yugito-speak for_ "I'm too upset to talk, let alone think, about it so I'll tell you later when I don't have to be strong for others". _Yugito rarely let others see her vulnerable side, because as one of the older members of the Jinchuuriki Alliance — cemented even further by the impromptu motherhood — she had to remain strong for the other, younger jinchuuriki. As Roshi was currently the eldest jinchuuriki and had known her since she was a young child, in the rare instances that she needed to, Yugito would allow herself to confide in him, and him alone. It was something Roshi treasured and took very seriously, because the level of explicit trust Yugito Nii had placed in him was one of the hardest things to gain._

 _"In the meantime..." Naruko giggled as her mother tapped her nose, making her go cross-eyed. "I believe it's time for lunch." The woman swiftly stood up, maneuvering the toddler to her hip as she made her way into the kitchen._

 _Neither Yugito nor Blue B allowed Naruko out of their sight for more than a minute for the rest of the week, and they almost always found an excuse to either touch or hold her. Naruko didn't voice a word of complaint; the atmosphere was still a little tense, and she could feel the negative emotions rolling off them both._

 _So she stayed quiet, and waited for the storm to pass. All storms did, eventually. Some could last much longer than others, but they still went away in the end, leaving the sky clearer than before._

* * *

"...Konoha accepted the condition, and war was safely avoided. Thanks to my father, who was killed as a body double of Hiashi Hyuuga... to protect the head family!"

Naruko tuned back into the present at Neji's shout — the first time he'd lost his composure since the beginning of the match — taken aback by the amount of sheer hatred in his voice.

 **"So _that's_ what happened,"** Kurama murmured. **"Both Yugito and Blue refused to speak of it after that one day they stormed into the Base..."** He thought back to when the two shinobi had returned to the Base, with Yugito particularly distraught and Blue B had been scarily silent. Yugito had locked herself in her room while Blue set out to destroy their training grounds. Even after much coaxing, the cause of their behaviour was only revealed during Naruko's brush with death — a child had been robbed of their father just to satisfy the demands of the Kumo council, but they refused to divulge the specifics. Suffice to say, neither shinobi had returned to Kumo for a long time.

The only reason Kurama remembered that particular incident was because the strong negativity continuously hounded Naruko, who was too young to have a proper handle on the side effects of being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. She ended up falling ill from her uncontrolled hypersensitivity, and Yagura ended up screaming through Yugito's door that if she didn't come out _right this darn f-ing second_ , Naruko would die from her fever. Yugito did come out at that, though she looked more than a little worse for wear. Upon seeing her daughter, the kunoichi was at such a loss that she finally resorted to entering Naruko's mindscape to attempt conversing with the Kyuubi. He still remembered how she had stood quietly in front of his cage; he hadn't wanted to answer her at first, but then Matatabi had pleaded with him. Kami knows he had never been able to say no to her. So he had told them the cause of his host's illness was due to her hypersensitivity to the sudden influx of strong negative emotions — in other words, Yugito and Blue B. The fever reducers and whatever human methods they were doing was helping marginally, but ultimately it was up to the two Kumo shinobi to deal with and get a grip on their emotions before they completely overwhelmed the smaller-than-average toddler. Kurama did begrudgingly reassure them that, as Naruko grew older, she would be able to deal with strong waves of emotion better.

Kurama clearly recalled the moment when Naruko's fever had finally broken and she awoke to find herself lying in her mother's lap, her arms carefully cradling her. The woman had looked positively haggard, but still somewhat functioning. It was the first time the Kyuubi had seen Yugito Nii cry so hard and so openly. Naruko was too feverish to understand why her mother kept apologizing; she instead focused on using her tiny hands to wipe away the tears that cascaded down Yugito's cheeks in rivers.

" _Don' worry... be 'appy_ ," Naruko had mumbled with a sweet, albeit weak, smile as she patted her caretaker's wet cheek. Kurama snorted; three-years-old, had a brush with death, and the first thing she said was telling Yugito to be happy. Selfless to a damned fault, that one.

Up where the Kage were seated, Killer Bee leaned down to his brother. "Say... did we know it was a body double?"

A shrugged. "The Hyuuga Affair was during the reign of the Sandaime Raikage. Even if he didn't know, there is no use in bringing it up. The truth is muddled — the council went behind his back with the whole scheme, however, otou-sama did agree to the condition to keep the peace. It does not matter now. I, personally, have no interest in any further attempts to bring the Byakugan back to Kumo. It's the Council of Old Farts — that I miraculously have yet to kick into the direct path of a lightning bolt — who insist on taking advantage of Konoha. You know, "for the good of Kumo", and that other bullsh-t." **(5)**

Bee smirked. "Then kick them into the direct path of a Lariat."

A snorted, amused. "I wish." And then he returned his attention to the match; it had a little more talking than he preferred, but it was interesting nevertheless.

"Other than dying, there's no other way to escape this accursed curse mark," Neji revealed in a dark, bitter tone." He looked down at the hitai-ate in his hand. "Even though they were twins with nearly equal power, their destinies were determined long ago, when one was born a few seconds after the other." Neji's hand closed around his hitai-ate tightly, and grief momentarily overcame his features before he looked up. "And this match is the same... your destiny was decided at the moment I became your opponent."

"When it feels scary to jump, that's exactly when you jump," Naruko quipped with a half-smile. "Otherwise you end up staying in the same place your whole life. And that's exactly what it would be like if you gave in to destiny. I don't know about you, Neji, but that's something I simply can't do."

Neji scowled at her, but quickly soothed his features back to neutrality as he tied his hitai-ate back onto his forehead, covering up the juinjutsu seal.

"Hatred has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has yet to solve one," Naruko opined. "People change for two main reasons: their minds have been opened, or their hearts have been broken. Your father was killed a long time ago, and I don't know the extent of the pain you felt, but it's a mistake for you to think that has determined your entire destiny." Her voice was quiet, but steel-hard with conviction. "Speaking metaphorically, you can't touch yesterday, Neji." Her tone softened. "So why are you letting it touch you?"

"You're hopeless," Neji muttered, reactivating his Byakugan and rushing at the Genin.

' _Kurama_...'

 **"Lean not on me, but on those who have built you up to be the "you", you are today,"** the Bijuu advised, uncharacteristically solemn. **"You draw your strength from protecting your precious people. Remember who you are, and use it to fuel yourself."**

Naruko watched as, in her mind's eye, the memories Kurama brought forth continuously flashed like a slideshow.

 _"We are jinchuuriki, the power of human sacrifice."  
_

 _"You'll be better... better than us all."_

 _"We're breaking up the Jinchuuriki Alliance."_

 _"You will always be my daughter."_

 _"To be able to protect them?"_

 _"You are unique. You are special. And that's what makes you strong."_

 _"We'll always belong to each other."_

 _"I need to talk to someone, and you're the only one who understands me... and the only person I can tolerate."_

 _"I don't see just your father in you, but your mother as well."_ _  
_

 _"Kakashi has really changed for the better, thanks to you. As his friends, we owe you a lot."_ _  
_

 _"To call upstarts like_ you _"ninja"... is a_ joke."

 _"You got guts, I'll admit that, kid. Maybe there's more to you than meets the eye, after all."_

 _"Meet my unofficial sister — the Number One Knucklehead Ninja, unpredictable and tamed by no one." A side glance at a particular dark-haired Genin. "Well..._ almost _no one."_

 _"I'm proud of you. All of you."_

Naruko closed her eyes and thanked her tenant, feeling a strange sense of serenity fill her. Neji believed in destiny, but she believed in a strength only found when you had precious people to protect. And a majority of her precious people were here, watching her.

As Neji neared, his Byakugan widened when he saw orange rush through his opponent's chakra system, but not overriding, no... it was mingling with the usual cool blue, and concentrating at her fists. Naruko opened her eyes and a small smirk curved her lip, before ribbons of fire burst at her feet, propelling her forwards to meet Neji halfway.

Hiruzen's eyes widened at the flare of demonic chakra. ' _This chakra... it's the Nine-Tailed Fox's, no doubt. When did she master the Kyuubi's chakra?'_

Yagura discreetly exchanged a worried look with his Utakata and Bee. While Naruko didn't look like she was on the verge of going out of control like Gaara had in the preliminaries, this was an unusually large amount of Kurama's chakra leaking out.

 **"Don't worry,"** Isobu reassured his host, a grin in his voice. **"The hatchling is using Kurama's chakra well. It's unorthodox, I'll admit, but she has it under control. Give your sister some credit, Yagura."**

The Mizukage relaxed slightly, and inclined his head at his secret brothers to let them know it was alright. Bee nodded and returned his attention to the match. Utakata looked dubious, but a bit of relief flickered in his eyes.

' _W-What is this chakra?'_ Neji thought with a growing sense of unease, watching the new chakra twist around the blonde, as if it had a will of its own. ' _It's almost_ wild. _Volatile... dangerous. Is it even chakra?'_

Flames blazing around her fists, Naruko threw them forward in a barrage of punches, the force and speed behind the attacks amplified by the fire. Neji attempted to counter, but was forced to dodge most of the time. In the instances he was able to push her elbows away, Naruko merely swerved and ducked in a fluid movements, never tripping or faltering as she continued her assault. She was well aware that she was showing an unorthodox way of fighting with Kurama's chakra, but if Neji would use his Jyuuken, then she would use the Kyuubi-fire taijutsu style she'd been working on... and she'd have to get one of her friends to name it for her later.

"Is she... _fighting_ with _fire?"_ Hinata asked blankly. Fuu scrutinized it for a moment before a soft sigh slipped past her lips; it was probably another Kyuubi thing, because as far as she knew, fire wasn't supposed to be manipulated to that extent. But then again, Naruko Uzumaki always did have a knack for achieving the impossible. Her amber eyes danced with merry amusement as Fuu saw her other triplet slam his forehead into the railing.

"I am absolutely one hundred percent _done_ with that little fox," Gaara muttered. "Imp thinks she can pull this sort of sh-t and get away with it?" He raised his head just enough to prop his chin on the railing to continue watching regardless, sibling-obligation and curiosity having momentarily invalidated his exasperation.

"I suppose this is the reason why Naruko has been monikered the "Number One Unpredictable Ninja"," Shino commented, observing as Naruko suddenly disappeared again, only to reappear in the air behind Neji.

' _She's even faster than before,_ ' Neji noted in surprise as he quickly spun into another Rotation to deflect the shuriken the kunoichi hurled at him. He stopped spinning when he felt a chakra flare behind him, and he quickly took out a kunai when he saw one in Naruko's hand. ' _This is bad... I have to use Rotation._'

The Kyuubi-fire had amplified Naruko's already-impressive strength and agility. Since she was up against the Hyuuga prodigy who had been at the shinobi life a year longer than she had, and subsequently had more experience under his belt, her training was more or less evenly matched against his in the beginning. Now she had the upper hand, if only marginally.

The two blades clashed, and neither shinobi seemed to be giving into the pressure. The pale blue sphere or rotating chakra covered Neji, while a rustic-orange chakra faintly coated Naruko's skin as fire danced and weaved around her feet.

Seeing as they were at a brief standstill and were at close quarters, Naruko took the opportunity to make him a promise; "When I become Hokage, I'll change the Hyuuga."

Neji's face remained impassive, even as the two opposing chakra forces collided and created a large explosion that shook the stadium. Genma had to lift his arms and physically brace himself from the impact, while numerous gasps of shock and alarm came from the spectators. Even the Kage looked noticeably affected.

When at last the large dust cloud cleared, there were two craters. Neither Genin were visible.

' _What immense chakra..._ ' Genma's eyes were fixed on the crater to his right, where Naruko had been. ' _She showed some enormous strength. If I hadn't known her since way back, I would've been scared outta my wits. Guess that's just another reminder to never get on_ her _bad side._ ' His eyes narrowed slightly. ' _That Hyuuga kid is probably—_ '

And from the crater to his left, a hand sprung up from the overturned earth, and Neji Hyuuga clambered out, though not without much difficulty. Step by step, Neji shakily walked over to the other crater, breaths coming harsh and laboured. Naruko was lying knocked out unconscious in her own miniature crater.

"Failure..." Neji murmured. "Sorry, but this is reality. Now this really is the en—" He stopped and his eyes widened as he hastily spun into another Rotation, just as Naruko shot out from beneath the soil, neatly flipping out of the Rotation's path.

Cries of disbelief and delight echoed from the spectators, but Naruko ignored them all as she charged straight at the spinning sphere of chakra to punch her bare arm through the thin barrier. ' _Ha, I broke through!'_ she crowed victoriously, though it was short-lived as a flash of searing pain flared through her arm.

Hiashi's jaw fell slightly ajar as Hinata gasped in horror, eyes wide. No one had ever attempted to penetrate the Rotation through brute force, and for good reason.

 **"You _idiot!"_** Kurama roared, jumping to his paws. **"Plunging your bare arm into a vortex of pure chakra is the worst thing you could possibly do! It'll get blown off!"**

Naruko ignored him, and took a deep breath before plunging her upper body in, startling the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Is she actually sticking her whole body inside?" Sakura gaped at the scene before letting out an indignant huff. "Well, I know I'm not going to be healing any of that. It's her fault for being stupid and reckless in the first place."

"You say that, but you're going to be the first one down there," Hinata smiled teasingly, though her pale eyes still held some worry for her first friend.

Fuu groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. "She's as impulsive as they come, alright... and to think I thought she actually matured."

 **"What you planning to do now, you fool?"** Kurama growled. **"You can't use chakra inside the Rotation unless you plan on killing him and yourself."**

' _But I can use it_ outside. _Thanks for the advice!'_ Naruko's elbow suddenly became alight and a vortex of fire blew out furiously behind him.

 **"You're using your magic as a booster to increase your fist's strength?"** the Bijuu exclaimed in both disbelief and bewilderment. His host was flat-out crazy, _period_. If she pulled this off _and_ won the match... well, he would stop questioning everything.

"Are you crazy?" Neji shouted the moment he realized what his opponent had done, voicing the thoughts of nearly everyone in the spectator stands and the waiting area.

Not deigning to reply him, Naruko's fist lurched forward and connected with Neji's face, sending him flying while also proving her theory. Neji spat out some blood while airborne before landing flat on his back.

"M-My body..." Neji muttered at the same time the Naruko lying in the crater disappeared with a poof — Shadow Clone, revealing a hole underneath it.

' _So she left a Shadow Clone in the hole and spotted a chance to win, huh... believing in victory, thinking about what comes next, and acting even when getting knocked around_,' Genma smiled proudly at the beaten-down Genin. ' _The power of believing in oneself. That becomes the power to change destiny. She knows this... and she's a natural to boot._ '

Naruko slowly made her way over to Neji, who was staring at her in a mixture of pain from his injuries, disbelief at his loss, and his default bitter anger. "Even in those conditions, you used the Shadow Clone Jutsu just like that... I was careless..."

Naruko crouched down by his side. "Don't keep thinking your destiny is set in stone. It's not."

Neji scoffed. "You think you can overcome fate?"

"Cogito, ergo sum," Naruko said simply. At the Hyuuga's suddenly blank stare, she sighed lightly and translated, "I think, therefore I am."

A light frown marred Sakura's face as she thought about the saying. "Did she use that in the right context?" she whispered conspiratorially to Fuu, who shrugged, equally clueless.

"I think she's saying she is, or will, overcome fate because she thinks she can," Hinata supplied in a soft voice, amusement lining every word.

"Ohhhh," both girls chorused quietly.

Naruko's eye twitched; why is that her teammate — who she'd spent every waking moment with — and her sister — whom she'd known since she was eight — were both bested by the friend she had only known for a year? ' _Well, at least now I know who my_ true _best friend is,_ ' she grumbled. Kurama chuckled deeply at his host's irritation.

"Stop complaining about your destiny and how it can't be changed, and start _doing_ something about it." Naruko's lip quirked up in a sardonic smile. "After all, unlike me, you're not a failure. You're a genius."

Genma sighed through his nose and bit down on his senbon, smiling at the girl he and his group of friends considered their unofficial imouto. He raised his hand, "Winner of this match is Naruko Uzumaki."

The stadium erupted into deafening cheers, thunderous claps and continuous rounds of praise. Naruko looked around for the first time, seemingly surprised at the spectators' presence. She turned to Genma uncertainly, who nodded at her with a proud smile that conveyed all she needed to know: _They're cheering for_ you, _kid._

Naruko's face broke into a smile. For someone who had never been accepted by her village, this was as close to a dream come true as it would get. Because, after all, her true dream never had anything to do with Konoha. But it was nice to finally be recognized for something positive; she wasn't just the "Fox Brat" anymore. She was Naruko Uzumaki — and they knew it.

So she tucked her left arm behind her back and grabbed her right forearm, rocking back on her heels and smiling brightly up at them all. She could even pick out some familiar faces; Asu, Kurenai, Sakura, Fuu, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, Izumo, Kotetsu. She glanced sideways to where all the Kage were, and felt her heart nearly burst when she saw the wide, excited grin that threatened to break the skin on Yagura's face. Killer Bee was grinning just as widely, and Utakata had even come forward beside his Mizukage so she could clearly see his pleased smile. They were proud of her, and for a moment, that was all that mattered.

Neji had spoken of fate. Naruko had never believed in such a thing. And she'd be damned if she let someone like Neji Hyuuga persuade her to believe it in now.

"She won... is it for real?" Shikamaru muttered in disbelief. "I thought she was the same as me, in the not-going-anywhere class."

Shino looked over at his former classmate. "Not going anywhere?" he echoed in slight confusion at the Nara's terminology.

"I can't believe she used the Kyuubi's chakra with such perfect control," Kurenai mused from her seat beside Asuma. "She drew out the chakra and manipulated it in an unusual method, but..."

"Yeah, most people from Konoha are surprised," Asuma agreed. He shot a glance up at his father, ' _How about_ that, _old man? She's better than you thought, huh?'_

Hiruzen was staring intensely at the blonde girl, who was smiling brightly at the crowd while still staying in place beside the proctor. ' _That Naruko... when did she learn to control the strength of the Kyuubi to that extent?'_

Naruko glanced back as Neji was loaded onto a stretcher. "Even a bird who gets caught, once it learns how, will open the lid of the basket with its own beak. He won't give up, for he wants to fly freely in the sky again," she said almost cryptically in a soft tone.

Neji's face softened ever-so-slightly, however his gaze remained fixed on a bird that was circling the arena.

* * *

"I honestly don't know whether to hit you, or laugh at you," Naruko shook her head with an exasperated smile as Shikamaru came up the stairs to join the rest of the Genin. The Nara opted to only grumble something unintelligible in reply as he came beside her, sagging against her and forcing the blonde to hold up his body weight.

"I can't believe you shoved me over the railing like that," Shikamaru complained. "And they even threw _trash_ at me. You're a cruel friend, you know that?"

Naruko laughed. "You had zero fighting spirit from the beginning — it was either do that or let you abstain. And I don't think Asu would've been very happy with me if I let you give up right before your match. As it was, you spent the first twenty minutes envying _clouds_. Gosh, Shika..." she shook her head with a grin. "Please, never change."

"I still can't get used to the fact he lets you call him "Asu"," Shikamaru heaved a tired sigh. "Ino tried it once and sensei literally froze up."

Naruko chuckled a little sheepishly and then turned her attention to the Kage stand, amusement falling from her face. ' _If Sasuke doesn't show up, he'll be disqualified for_ real _this time_.'

The Yondaime Kazekage had convinced Hiruzen to postpone Sasuke's match rather than disqualify him, and so Kankuro no Sabaku and Shino Aburame's match had been pushed up. However, Kankuro had forfeited, making Shino the default winner. The match after that had been between Temari and Shikamaru, in which Temari had emerged the victor after Shikamaru forfeited at the last second, even though he had clearly won. His reasoning? Had he won, it would've just meant more work.

Naruko bit her lip in amusement at the memory, but then glanced at the sky. Sasuke's time was running out. Her eyes narrowed. ' _Come on, teme. Don't leave us hanging._ '

And of course, the minute Genma started to announce time was up, there was a flare of chakra and a whirlwind of leaves — Kakashi Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha had finally arrived.

"Well, I'm sorry we're late..." Kakashi said in his usual drawl to the proctor.

Genma shook his head with a sigh. "You never change, eh Kakashi?" He tilted his head up. "That imouto of yours is gonna be out of your blood, I hope you realize." He leaned his head around to look at the dark-haired boy behind him. "Both of yours."

The males visibly grimaced, and Sasuke shot an accusing glare at his sensei. Kakashi shrugged at him helplessly.

Genma grinned. "Alright... what's your name?" he asked, though it was entirely unnecessary. All the spectators had come just for this very match.

"Sasuke Uchiha," the boy answered without hesitation. Of course, his "cool" image was instantly dashed when a fist came crashing down onto his head at the same time his redheaded opponent landed quietly opposite him.

Sasuke gritted his teeth to avoid letting out an unmanly yelp, and turned to glare at his attacker only to instantly recoil at the furious eyes of one Naruko Uzumaki. "S-Sorry?" was all he could squeak out. He prayed his teammate didn't do more damage before his match even begun. That would _not_ be a great start.

Naruko glared at him for a moment more, and then turned to Kakashi. "It's rude to show up all flashy like this, you know. And at the last second, too," she scolded. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly while Sasuke stood there silently, letting his sensei take the lashing. "You're just lucky Sasuke hasn't been disqualified," she hissed in a quieter tone, though no less angry. "Sasuke."

The Uchiha turned to look at her inquiringly.

"After this, regardless of whether or not you win, I will be having _words_ with you. Then, I will hand you over to Sakura so she can give you a lecture on the importance of punctuality." Naruko watched in slight satisfaction as her teammate blanched, but nodded. Sasuke was smart enough to know that he better agree to whatever she said, lest he accidentally add more fuel to the fire.

Naruko looked over at Gaara and nodded at him with a slight smile. _Good luck. I believe in you._

He nodded back. _Thank you._

She titled her head. _What for?_

Gaara's eyes softened minutely. _For always believing in me._

Naruko smiled. _I will always believe in you, Gaa-chan._ Her eyes twinkled. _Don't rough him up too much for me, ne?_

Gaara smirked lightly. _Can't make any promises, but I'll try my best._

Genma cleared his throat, and Kakashi and Naruko took it as their cue to leave the arena. "The rules are the same as the preliminaries," he repeated for Sasuke's benefit. "The match goes on until one of you dies or admits defeat. When it's determined there is a winner, the match can be stopped. But that's my decision."

The two opponents walked towards each other until there was only a few feet — and Genma — left between them. The proctor looked first at the Uchiha, and then at the Suna shinobi. His arm came down. "Begin!"

It was Sasuke who moved first, hurling a two shuriken at Gaara. As expected, a wall of sand rose up to protect the redhead, but then it morphed into a Sand Clone. Sasuke started to run at him, but a torrent of sand suddenly burst from the clone's torso, rushing straight at him in retaliation. He was able to avoid it by jumping into the air, and instantly lashed out with a kick and a punch — that proved to be a grievous mistake when his left forearm became caught in the Sand Clone's throat, and sand started to trap his arm in place. Thinking fast, Sasuke reared back his hand and punched right through the clone's head, dispersing it back into sand.

Sasuke went for another punch, this time at the direct opponent, but a sand of wall came up. He merely smirked, and disappeared. Gaara blinked, and instinctively ducked when Shukaku yelled at him to. But during his training, Sasuke had gained a speed and force that would rival Rock Lee on an ordinary day, and it managed to clip his temple, sending him skidding back.

' _He's able to bypass Gaara's sand-based defenses with ease,_ ' Killer Bee thought in muted surprise. ' _I wonder... could he be faster than even Yugito?'_

Sasuke nimbly dodged the tendrils of sand that lashed out at him, and brought his foot up to land a solid kick at Gaara's chest. The redhead brought his arms up in an X to block it, but was sent skidding back a few feet regardless.

' _Okay, so sand doesn't work against him_ ,' Gaara reasoned. ' _Never thought I'd say this, but_ thank Kami _okaa-san had the good sense to force me into learning taijutsu. Even if I did have to spar with the devil called Naruko..._ '

When Sasuke ran at him again, this time Gaara met him halfway. Sasuke clearly hadn't been expecting him to take such a direct approach and was momentarily thrown off-guard. Gaara had an opportunity and seized it — he swung his right leg around to hit Sasuke's exposed side at the same time he grabbed Sasuke's shoulder. Having knocked his combatant off balance, however momentary, Gaara didn't waste a second as he slid between his feet and judo-flipped him to the ground.

As he fell, Sasuke grabbed Gaara's gourd sash — ' _I need something less flappy and easy to grab,_ ' Gaara thought in annoyance — and brought him down with him, bringing up his right knee and smash it into Gaara's solar plexus.

Naruko winced. ' _Ouchie... nothing worse than what I've dealt him before. But still... did Sasuke really use his Sharingan to copy Lee's taijutsu? It's the only explanation on how he mastered this speed in a mere month, compared to Lee's hard work over the years._' She closed her eyes briefly as she felt slight frustration; she understood Lee's plight almost just as well as Gai did. She didn't have natural talent, only products of hard work and early training. ' _I can't imagine Gai or Lee are very happy about that._ '

 **"Kit...!"**

Naruko's eyes snapped open at Kurama's alarm, and she saw her jinchuuriki siblings stiffen from her peripheral vision. ' _What? What's wrong?'_

 **Kurama merely growled. "It's beginning..."**

' _What—_ '

And then, feathers began to fall from the sky.

* * *

( **1) Fire Dragon Wing Attack is a spell used in the anime Fairy Tail, by Natsu Dragneel**

 **(2) Totally making this up here; the Adamantine Sealing Chains were used by the Uzumaki Clan, however Karin Uzumaki appeared to have difficulty using them and Nagato Uzumaki didn't use them at all, so I thought I might as well add in the full-blooded/clan head/elitist part. Of course, in Naruko's case, it was thanks to Kurama that she unlocked them**

 **(3) I have no idea how fūinjutsu works or if this is even possible, because there really isn't enough information and this ninja art hasn't been explored to its capacity, which I'm both disappointed and grateful for. On one hand, I have little to no guidelines, however on the other hand I can do whatever I want and no one can say "that's impossible". So just accept it as part of my Naruto fanfiction world :)**

 **(4) Fun fact: In the anime, the Hyuuga Juinjutsu is shaped like an "X" rather than a "卐" to avoid confusion, as this is commonly associated with Nazism.**

 **(5) I completely forgot Neji told Naruto about the Hyuuga Affair, and had the Raikage come. I'm as forgetful as Dory... anyway, I decided to alter A's personality a little. Not too much, because he's funny when he's hot-headed and breaks stuff, but I figure that nine years later Kumo should be past the whole "to be strong = acquire Byakugan" phase, especially if they have a new Raikage. And everyone knows that the only people who hold onto ridiculous notions like that are the old coots on the council :P**

 **A/N: So lads, any ideas for Naruko's Kyuubi-fire taijutsu style? Or at least a better name than "Kyuubi-fire"?**


	14. Invasion

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **I've been looking forward to finally publishing this particular chapter, and I had a lot of fun (probably more than necessary) writing it. It's probably one of my favourites and you will soon find out why :)**

* * *

Naruko's eyes narrowed as shinobi and civilian alike fell asleep around her — genjutsu. Thanks to being bonded with a Bijuu, she was immune to genjutsu, and thus had no need to learn how to detect or release herself from it. Casting a quick look around, she found that all the Kage were awake — expected, but it still gave her a sense of relief. Over at the spectator stand, all shinobi ranked Chuunin and above had realized it was a genjutsu and released themselves. Naruko was pleased to see that Sakura was the only shinobi below Chuunin still awake; genjutsu had always been the pinkette's forte.

And then there was a miniature explosion, and a large plume of smoke rose from the Kage stand. Naruko, Sasuke, Kakashi and Gai jerked around to look at the source of the noise.

' _Shit_ ,' Gaara cursed. ' _The operation's started. And I completely forgot to warn Naruko..._ ' He briefly closed his eyes with a sigh. ' _That's what happens when you reunite with people you love after so long, I suppose._ ' He glanced up at his siblings, who met his eyes and gave him identical, imperceptible nods. His eyes moved to the spectator stands and found his sensei — Baki — who also gave him a nod. ' _Well, I guess I should be thankful I managed to convince_ some _people, at the very least. It'll help Konoha in repelling the forces._ '

"Hokage-sama!" Gai shouted as he and Kakashi made to head towards the site of explosion, but were cut off by three ANBU.

"Leave it to us!" one of them called as the cloaked and masked figures darted to the right, joined by more and more ANBU.

Naruko glanced first at them, and then at the two Jonin. Kakashi had summoned Pakkun, and it appeared Sakura was heading over her way. The blonde quickly turned to Shikamaru, who had fallen under the genjutsu— her eye twitched. "Shikamaru," she growled quietly, "you... are you _sleeping_ to avoid conflict?" she hissed almost incredulously. It seemed her friend's laziness had absolutely no limits; she would tolerate it if only he could deduce when was an appropriate time to laze around and when wasn't. Having Konoha invaded definitely fell under the inappropriate circumstances.

 **"Incoming chakra signatures, and lots of them,"** Kurama warned. Naruko's jaw clenched; she sensed strong Killing Intent emanating from the Kage rooftop. Steeling herself, she remembered her brothers were more than capable of taking care of themselves. As was the Old Man. She had to focus on what was right in front of her.

At that moment, Sakura and Pakkun arrived. "So here's a rundown of what Kakashi-sensei told me," the pinkette began, "Suna and Oto are invading Konoha, but here's where it gets a little bit confusing: apparently Suna was divided on it or maybe there are rebels? Dunno, but we can see them fighting each other."

Naruko paused, and then smiled, her eyes drifting down to her redheaded brother who had used his sand to shield himself, Genma and Sasuke from stray weapons. He was also using spare sand to knock out various Oto and Suna shinobi — taking care to avoid those on his side — and did his best refrain from permanently incapacitating unless there was no other option. ' _You're the best, Gaa-chan_.' Naruko looked back up at Sakura, and frowned at the lack of another presence. "Where's Fuu?"

"She went to the infirmary with Hinata," Sakura answered. "They went to see if the Genin were affected the genjutsu, and if any of them were capable enough to— Naruko, _look out!"_

The pure fear in her voice had Naruko acting instinctively; the Adamantine Sealing Chains lashed out from her back and slammed the Oto nin into the wall behind her, knocking him out.

The pinkette released a shuddering sigh of relief. "Handy indeed," she murmured, remembering her teammate's words back in the Forest of Death, when she had used her bloodline for the first time since Wave.

Naruko hummed in agreement. Her eyes scanned the arena, and suddenly locked eyes with her jinchuuriki-brother's biological sister. Temari's teal eyes held a sort of hidden apology, and the younger blonde nodded back at her in understanding. Kankuro joined his sister at the railing; it became a silent understanding between the three of them as they launched over the metal and landed in the arena.

* * *

"Kazekage," A growled dangerously, "what is going on?"

The Kazekage simply looked at him. "This does not concern you, Raikage-dono," he said in fake politeness. ' _Having three Kage here complicates the plan. I did not account for their presence... especially the Raikage's._ ' He narrowed his eyes as he heard the two Suna bodyguards that went ahead being swiftly eliminated by the ANBU squad that had showed up; it was time to act.

Faster than the Sandaime Hokage could comprehend — he had let himself get rusty in his old age, it seemed — the Kazekage suddenly had him in a chokehold with a kunai to his jugular. Taking the Hokage with him, the Kazekage made to jump through the cloud of dust when a hard metal rod slammed into his shoulder, causing a muffled cry to escape. A large fist covered in blue lightning slammed into the roof in quick succession to the staff strike, just a few inches from where he was standing, forcing the Kazekage to move out of the way.

He whirled around and saw the Yondaime Mizukage standing there, his fuchsia eyes shining against the billowing grey smoke. "So this was your plan, Kazekage-sama?" he asked with an eerie calm. "To invade Konoha during the Chuunin Exams?"

A stood up, standing opposite Yagura with only the two Kage between them. "Did you really think it would be wise to attack when there are three Kage present, especially when two are interested in building an alliance with Konoha?" the young Raikage demanded.

"He's a little rash," Utakata murmured from his observation perch on a higher tier. Bee, standing a little bit behind him, reached forward to slap his head. The brunette whirled at him with an indignant protest on his lips, but stopped when he saw the agreeing grin on Bee's face. Rolling his eyes, the Kiri shinobi returned his attention to the confrontation between the four Kage.

The Kazekage glared. "I did not account for your presence beforehand," he said a-matter-of-factly. "But that does not matter; I will deal with you accordingly."

Yagura silently tucked his staff under his left arm and raised his right hand in a Ram sign, his eyes holding a challenge he knew the Kazekage would not back down from.

"It's finally our time to come on the scene."

"We've been transformed for such a long time, I'm totally pent-up with frustration."

"You guys smell all sweaty."

"Come on, we're all comrades, right?"

Yagura narrowed his eyes slightly at the four voices that came from the corners of the roof. His eyes flickered to Utakata who was crouched on the tier above them; the brunette signalled four ninja, all from Otogakure.

"Do it," the Kazekage rasped.

Instantly, the four Oto ninja chanted at the same time, "Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!"

A dark barrier was constructed around the rooftop, and Yagura hid a grimace when he saw an ANBU Black Op be set on fire upon coming in contact with the barrier. Yagura took in the current situation; the Takikage had been taken somewhere by his bodyguards. A was apparently allied with him for this battle, so his speed and brute force would help give them the upper hand. But to have outwitted Konoha's famed ANBU... these were no ordinary ninja. Killer Bee and Utakata were above, ready to give them support at any notice.

"I didn't expect Suna to betray Konoha," Hiruzen commented, glaring at the Kazekage who was still holding him hostage.

"The treaty was simply a camouflage to make the enemy let down their guard," the white-robed man answered plainly. "The petty little battle game ends now. From this point on, the course of history will change."

The shorter man's glare intensified. "Are you saying that you're starting a war?"

"That's right," the Kazekage answered, and Yagura could hear the malicious smile in his voice, though a white cloth obscured everything but his eyes.

Though he felt hot anger swelling in his stomach, Hiruzen remained calm. "One should avoid resolution through armed force, and rather seek a solution through negotiations. There's still time, Kazekage-sama."

' _Oh my lanta,_ ' Yagura blinked, ' _is_ this _why they call him the Professor?'_

 **"Looks like it,"** Isobu agreed, amused. **"He could be killed at any moment with a flick of the wrist, and yet he lectures his younger fellow Kage on diplomacy."**

The Kazekage simply closed his eyes and chuckled derisively. "Perhaps one gets addicted to peace as one grows older..." His eyes snapped open with a baleful gleam in his eyes. " _Sarutobi-sensei_."

The Hokage's eyes widened. "You're..."

Just then, Utakata's head jerked around. ' _Huge boa_ ,' he internally gawked at the three snakes — or was it a three-headed snake? — that he could see writhing in the outskirts of Konoha. It had brought down a section of the wall separating the village from the expansive forest, but the ninja on patrol had already started attacking it. It seemed Konoha was well-prepared for attacks, despite the era of tentative peace in which they lived in.

His eyes instinctively moved down when he sensed two familiar chakra signatures flaring; Gaara and Naruko.

"What in the world is going on?" Sasuke Uchiha demanded, feeling confusion and wariness as beige filled his vision, the sand swirling in an agitated manner as it plucked shinobi left and right to hurl them into the air or knock them into walls. A flash of familiar orange caught his eye, and he turned to see his teammate land with his opponent's teammates.

"Sasuke, you okay?" Naruko ran her eyes quickly over him before focusing on his face, and she visibly relaxed in relief when he nodded his head.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked again.

"Suna and Oto staged a combined invasion against Konoha." The answer came from Gaara. "But Suna was divided on this matter; as you can see, half of Suna is preoccupied fighting the other half, leaving only Oto to do the invading. I am on the side against the invasion, as are my siblings and my Jonin sensei."

"And I suppose you were the one who divided Suna?" Naruko asked with a smile playing her lips.

Gaara shrugged with a light smirk. "The Kazekage was not acting like himself. And he smelled... different. So was the feel of his chakra, and he couldn't control sand, either. But the most telling was that he attempted to be interested in what his children were doing. The real Kazekage never paid any of us a second glance."

"How did you get half of Suna to go against their Kazekage?" Genma couldn't help but ask.

Gaara's smirk widened. "Well, Baki-sensei had never really been all that convinced of the need to invade Konoha to begin with, and he agreed that the Kazekage had been acting oddly. As for my siblings... let's just say it's not exactly an unknown fact that all of the Kazekage's children quietly despise him, so the idea of going against our father's plans didn't bother them; in fact, I believe it pleased them. Besides, Temari and Kankuro prefer the action aspect of being a shinobi so in their eyes, they get to fight either way."

Naruko snorted lightly in amusement. "And that's how Gaara no Sabaku managed to get three influential shinobi to turn against their Kazekage, and convert half of Suna's forces."

"Gaara!" The redhead turned to see Temari motioning at him. "Come on, let's get out of here. The Konoha shinobi have it covered in this area. We need to stop the additional forces coming in from the forest."

Genma nearly spat out his senbon. "There's _more?"_

Gaara shot him a scathing look. "Of course. There weren't even that many Oto and Suna shinobi to begin with, so it makes sense for reinforcements to have a scheduled arrival. Thankfully, at least a third of those who will be summoned are on Konoha's side. They want to keep the peace, and believe it is the best course of action to go against their Kazekage, just this once."

"The people of the desert sure are bold," Genma murmured.

"Yes, we are," an amused voice answered, and the Jonin nearly choked on his senbon again. He turned around to see a very tall Suna Jonin with two distinctive red markings on the right side of his face. The rest of his head was covered by a turban-like head gear and a white cloth hung over the left side of his face. "The name's Baki," the Jonin told the proctor. "Jonin Sensei of the Yondaime Kazekage's children."

"Wait, hold on," Genma's mind raced. "Weren't you—"

"Genma, if you don't want to end your shinobi career early, I suggest you put that senbon to use and start defending your village!"

Said Jonin nearly fell over in surprise as a familiar brunette landed beside him, sweep-kicking an Oto shinobi's feet from beneath him and slamming his katana handle into his temple, effectively knocking him out. "H-Hayate!" Genma blinked rapidly as the man's blade flashed in the sunlight. "How— what— when—"

The Tokubetsu Jonin shot him an amused look. "That night, Baki kidnapped me and informed me of Suna's... predicament," he jerked his head over at the man.

Said Suna Jonin shrugged. "I was going to kill him, originally. But then I started having too much fun fighting him, and Gaara also told me that his only relative was a younger sister. I couldn't kill him with good conscience, so I made him create a blood clone and I killed that instead. If I hadn't killed him, the shinobi who were on the side of the invasion would've grown suspicious."

Hayate rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "The plan was already underway, so there was no way we could stop the invasion; all we could was prepare for when it began. I agreed to wait with Baki and his team until the invasion commenced — after all, I am a Konoha shinobi, and so I intend to protect my village with my dying breath."

Genma shook his head. "I can't even with you right now," he muttered. "Yugao is going to _kill_ you for this little stunt."

Hayate winced. "Oh, believe me, I _know_. I'm actually hoping I can hide behind Naruko?" He looked hopefully at the whiskered Genin behind him.

"Sure," the blonde shrugged. "I mean, I didn't know you "died" since I was out of civilization — or what felt like it, anyway — for a month. But still, that's not very nice of you to make your girlfriend think you died. And for an entire month, at that."

Hayate winced again, and dropped to the ground as he anticipated the blonde's kunai that flew behind him and dug deep into a Suna shinobi's eye, causing him to cry out in surprise and pain as he staggered back, clamping a hand over his bleeding face.

Gaara glared. "Please refrain from permanently damaging the Suna shinobi. We still need them to be of use to Suna for future missions and the like."

Naruko couldn't help but snicker a little at the utter seriousness in his voice, despite how he had referred to said shinobi as if they were marketing goods. "Sorry..." Privately, she thought Gaara sounded more like a Kage than Yagura did... she really had to stop insulting her brother before he got the impression she didn't love him.

Genma rolled the senbon between his teeth for a moment before grinning. "On second thought, unless said lady-in-grieving molests you first and then kills you. Because, I mean—"

"Shut it!" Hayate snapped, heat creeping up his neck as Baki let out a rumbling laugh. Genma was grinning wickedly, undeterred by his comrade's disgruntled attitude.

Clearing his throat, Baki ordered his students, "Go to the borders of Konoha and do your best to do damage control or delay the reinforcements. Both Oto and Suna shinobi will be coming. You know the drill — knock out the Suna shinobi, eliminate the Oto."

"What about you, sensei?" Temari asked, with a rare — albeit minimal — amount of concern in her voice.

It seemed Suna treated their shinobi as more of soldiers than humans, Naruko mused, if their barely-surfacing emotions were anything to go by.

"I'll be suppressing these guys," their sensei answered, moving to flank Genma's other side. The Jonin bit down on his senbon and grinned at Baki, Hayate on his other side. This was going to be one hell of a team-up.

"Sasuke, Naruko." Both Genin glanced over at the proctor. "The Chuunin Exams end here. And no doubt, the both of you have already achieved Chuunin level. If you're a Konoha shinobi, then be of service to Konoha."

"In other words," a slow smile spread across Naruko's face, "destroy the reinforcements?"

"It'll just be a continuation of Phase 2," Sasuke commented.

Genma looked amused at the Uchiha's simplifying of the invasion, but nodded. "Go with Baki's team. Don't take more than you can handle; from here on, it's the real thing." He paused. "Take care of Naruko, Uchiha."

"Take care of yourself," Naruko muttered back her brother-figure, before allowing Sasuke to lead the way as he cleared the wall in one leap, the sound of clashing blades ringing out behind her. Her keen eyes sought out Shikamaru and Sakura; finding them, she motioned to join the pursuit.

 **"Whoa baby!"** Kurama suddenly exclaimed, and Naruko nearly slipped off the roof she had just landed on. **"This chakra... I'll never forget this chakra!"** He remained quiet for a moment, so Naruko assumed he was either thinking or conversing with his Bijuu siblings. **"Kit, here's quick rundown of what's happening,"** the fox said at last. **"The past Hokage have been brought to life through Edo Tensei."**

Naruko stiffened. ' _Otou-san...?'_ she asked almost hesitantly, the title foreign on her tongue.

 **"Sarutobi managed to stop his reanimation, but the Shodai and the Nidaime are back. All three of your brothers are assisting him and the Raikage against Orochimaru."**

Naruko bit down on the soft flesh of her inner cheek. ' _Thanks for keeping me informed._ '

"Why am I pulled into this?" Naruko tuned back into Shikamaru's typical half-assed complaints. "This is such a drag." But despite it, he kept pace with his three former classmates.

"What a shocker to discover that you do, in fact, lack motivation," Sasuke said wryly. "From what I heard, your final match performance was so incredibly riveting."

"What's with inviting the emo-boy? Remind me why he's here again?"

"I have a penchant for watching melodrama as a leisure activity," Sasuke drawled sarcastically.

"Is that so?" Sakura teased in a light tone. "Here's what I think — you were afraid Gaara or Shika would end up being alone with Naruko, and you aren't cool with that idea."

" _What?"_ Sasuke lost his footing and nearly fell to his death — or at least towards the loss of his walking ability — had it not been for Naruko's quick reflexes when she grabbed the collar of his shirt. The Uchiha came back up spluttering and as red as his favourite snack, Sakura and Shikamaru both smirking at him. The Sand Siblings were a few steps ahead of them, and didn't even bother looking behind them.

Sakura giggled at her teammate's sudden lack of coherency. "Well, either way, it can't be helped — right after you jumped down, Naru, Kaka-sensei gave us our first A-ranked mission since Wave. It has the same objective as yours and Sasuke's, but directed at myself and Shikamaru."

"So technically," Sasuke grunted, "I'm working under Genma's orders."

Naruko sighed. "Both Jonin had the same objective, so it doesn't matter who issued what. Let's just hurry up before those snakes destroy the entirety of the wall. The Chuunin Exams were held on the opposite side of the borders, so we have to move fast."

"Fast question," Shikamaru interrupted, "is that redheaded guy your friend?"

Naruko's eyes didn't stray from the distant figures of the three foreign shinobi. "He's... an keystone of my past, and someone I've never been able to let go of." She paused before adding quietly, "He holds me close to his heart, just as I do for him."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly at the cryptic and suggestive answer, while Shikamaru only gave her a nod in acknowledgement. Sakura tapped his shoulder, and Sasuke sent more chakra to his feet, propelling him ahead to where Naruko was. The blonde was travelling faster than all of them; she already had practice when she pulled pranks and had to run away from shinobi, but now she had a real incentive, it was getting harder and harder to stay beside her.

Pakkun suddenly barked out, "There are eight people in two squads on our tail. No, there's one more... there are nine people following us."

"C'mon, _already?"_ Shikamaru grumbled. "We haven't even left the village. Give me a break."

"We don't have time to deal with them," Naruko growled through gritted teeth.

"Normally, I would suggest an ambush, but we're in the middle of a village and there's not much to work with here," Sakura sighed. "Besides, even if we did have secret traps or passages or any of the classic mystery novel shidings, Orochimaru would probably know about it, seeing as he is a former Konoha shinobi. So that approach won't work on his henchmen."

Naruko and Sasuke exchanged an amused look that said, ' _And_ there's _our strategist._ '

Shikamaru's teeth snapped together with a soft click. "Well, there's only one thing we can do now — a diversion in the guise of an ambush. One person will remain, pretend to ambush, and delay the pursuers."

"In other words," Sakura murmured, "bait."

"Right," Shikamaru confirmed, "if we delay them, the others will be able to get to the borders easier. But everyone capable is busy at the arena with the other Suna and Oto ninja where the invading forces are. So the bait will be without backup, and considering the level of shinobi chasing us, there's a fairly high chance that..." he hesitated, though his voice was hard as steel, "they'll die."

All four Genin slowed to a stop after Shikamaru's declaration. They were silent for a while; who were they going to leave behind? For Team 7, the answer had always been clear: no one was left behind. To do that would make you worse than scum — it was a lesson that had been drilled into them from day one, and one they all took to heart. But ignoring Shikamaru's plan would mean leaving themselves as easy pickings for Orochimaru's henchmen. And for the bait to have such a low likelihood of surviving... death had never seemed to close and real before. Even during the C-turned-B-rank mission, Kakashi had been there to protect his team. But now they were alone; four Genin and one ninja hound. Who would they sacrifice? And could they live with themselves afterwards? To have to tell a family that their child had died within Konoha's walls because they stayed behind to let the others go on, even when they knew there was no certainty for them to live another day?

But, as Kakashi constantly reminded them, each one of them had a role to play. A team drew on each other for strength. And that was why no one was to be left behind. But in such a situation as this, what was the right answer?

No one knew.

"So... who's going to do it?" Shikamaru broke the heavy silence.

Naruko exhaled through her nose and squared her shoulders. "I'll do it." She wasn't surprised when Sasuke's head snapped around to glare at her as Sakura's eyes widened. She could even feel Shikamaru's surprised gaze at her back, and Pakkun's wary eyes. She smiled tightly at her friends, "No one will miss me if I don't return," she said quietly. "You're the only son of the clan head," she told Shikamaru, "and you have parents to return to," she said gently to Sakura. But with Sasuke... her eyes softened. "You know better than anyone that there is something only _you_ can do."

Sasuke clenched his jaw, but before he could say a word, Sakura's fist came and swung down on Naruko's head — _hard_. "Idiot," the pinkette seethed, though her beryl eyes were covered with a film of tears she refused to shed, "did you even think of your _team_ in that little analysis of yours? Didn't you ever think _we'd_ miss you if you didn't return?"

Naruko could only stare at her teammate numbly.

"And what about Kaka-sensei?" Sakura continued. "He's your brother. You're his sister. And Ibiki, Anko, Hayate, Genma... you knew them all, didn't you? The same way you knew Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei and Gai-sensei. You have people back in the village who love you. Maybe not a lot, but enough that you can't just throw your life away like that."

"But I won't let you throw your lives away for mine," Naruko responded quietly.

"Pup," Pakkun finally spoke up, addressing the blonde. "I can't force you to do anything — in the end it will be your choice. But, I do know for a fact that it would kill Kakashi if you died. You and I know he already lost so much before he even turned fifteen... he opened up his life and his heart to you. If he loses you... he may revert back to the way he was when his team died." **(1)**

Naruko closed her eyes, biting her lip. She only opened her eyes when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Sasuke looking at her intensely. "I'm going to be selfish today, and make this one request: please don't make me lose someone precious to me again, either," the Uchiha almost pleaded in a voice soft enough that only Naruko could hear.

The blonde looked at him for a moment before sighing and lowering her head in defeat. "Man... you guys sure know how to guilt-trip someone."

Shikamaru smirked to himself before heaving a sigh. "Well, looks like I'll be the bait, then."

"Why you?" Naruko demanded immediately.

"It's better than being wiped out, right?" Shikamaru shrugged. "Besides, Team 7 has a dynamic no one in our graduating class can even hope to replicate. InoShikaCho's dynamic is one passed down since sixteen generations ago." **(2)** He smiled lazily at them. "But yours is something new and unique to only you three. It's a drag, but among us, the only one who is equal to playing the bait and who has a possibility of surviving..." He flipped over their heads and landed on the side of the roof behind Naruko, "is me."

He straightened up, glancing back over at them one last time. "The Shadow Possession Jutsu was originally intended as a delay tactic, so..." He shrugged, shifting his eyes forward. "Well, I'll catch up later. Now get going." His nonchalant tone did little to relax them, but the determination underlying his words was all they needed to start moving again.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Team 7, Shikamaru and Pakkun turned to see Temari no Sabaku land beside the Nara, slinging her fan down and slamming it firmly onto the roof.

" _You?"_ Shikamaru asked incredulously.

Temari shot him an annoyed look. "Hey, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm helpless, you know. Damned lazy, chauvinistic Konoha shinobi," she muttered the last part under her breath.

"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Sakura looked over her shoulder, to where the two boys were barely visible. "Your brothers are still going ahead."

Temari sighed forcefully. "We realized you stopped, and Gaara sensed chakra signatures tailing us. Figured you were trying to find a tactic to delay them, so I told them I'd double back to check on you. I'll stay with the lazyass, so the rest of you go on with Gaara and Kankuro."

The blonde nodded. "Thank you." She quickly moved to press a hand to Shikamaru's back, right between the shoulder blades. The boy stiffened as he felt something dissolve through his fishnet shirt and stick to his skin like some sort of inky webbing. "It's a chakra storage seal," Naruko informed him, smoothing the paper.

Ah — so it _was_ ink.

"I know you're low on chakra from your earlier match. If you run too low, send a little chakra to the middle of your back here," she pressed her palm hard against where she had placed the seal, "and it'll release the chakra into your system. But Temari should be enough backup."

Naruko peeled off the now-blank paper talisman and tucked it into her hip pouch. She cleared the short space that separated her from her team, and looked back. "We're all counting on you," she said as light-heartedly as she could, to which the Nara responded by raising his right hand as both an acknowledgement and a farewell.

Naruko turned to her teammates, and saw the same internal conflict as she had; this was going against everything Kakashi had taught them. But they had no choice; as shinobi, most choices they had to make were rarely the easy or fun kind. But then again, they were the ones who had chosen this occupation, hadn't they?

The only thing that eased their conscience was that Shikamaru wasn't alone. Even if he only had another Genin with him, and one that he didn't know at that, it was better than no one at all.

So with simultaneous determined nods, Team 7 and Pakkun started on their way again.

Fifteen minutes later, they were quickly closing in both the Suna shinobi and the border. Naruko couldn't help smiling when a tendril of sand whisked out and wrapped around Kankuro's torso, hoisting him into the air and dropping him onto another sand platform. Gaara was a jinchuuriki, after all, and he had the stamina and the chakra reserves to show it. Even if Kankuro hadn't fought in his match, he wouldn't be able to keep up with a jinchuuriki on a mission for long.

Flipping off the roof and to the ground, Sasuke quickly scanned his surroundings — they were at the very edge of the village, a few meters away from the border that separated Konoha from the expansive forest they were known for. The forest was at his back, while the two Sand Siblings were closer to the village. Sasuke glanced behind his shoulder again, and couldn't help the small quirk of his lips. Ah, this brought back memories; some dreadful — read: catching Tora — and of course, the happier but also questionably moralistic — read: chasing a certain grey-haired Jonin who had a penchant for being unforgivably late with Naruko's prankster traps set up everywhere until he fell to his knees begging for mercy.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here?"

Naruko instantly straightened up as the mischief dropped from her face. "We have orders from Kakashi Hatake and Genma Shiranui to come here. The heart of the combined invasion is in the Chuunin Exam arena, however according to these two," she gestured to Gaara and Kankuro, "there are even more reinforcements on the way. Kakashi-sensei and Genma gave us an A-rank mission: subdue or delay the reinforcements."

"Very funny, kid," the Jonin said sarcastically. "Three Genin would never be sent to—"

"Yuri." The Jonin turned to see Ibiki Morino coming up to them, and gave him a nod. "It's alright, I know this child. And besides, they are here under orders from their superiors, and I know for a fact they are more than capable of handling this mission. And we need all the help we can get, if the amount of incoming chakra signatures are any indication." He then turned curious eyes on the Suna Genin. "But if Suna is invading Konoha, why are you two here?"

Kankuro crossed his arms. "Suna's divided on the matter," he answered. "Half of Suna is for, and half of Suna is against. I'm on the against side, so I've got the same objective as them," he jerked a thumb over at Team 7.

Naruko's ears twitched and she shot a look at Gaara, who nodded back at her. The redhead then announced in his usual monotone, "No time for debates; here they come."

Kankuro instantly yanked on the bandages covering his strangely-shaped object, and the cloth rapidly circled in the air until the mysterious package was revealed — a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid puppet with jagged teeth and a spiky brown hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides. It was connected to Kankuro's fingers via chakra strings.

Sakura's eyes widened in delight. "A puppet! You're a puppet master!"

Kankuro shot her an amused smirk. "Yeah, and this is my trump card, Karasu."

"Wait, so all three Sand Siblings are long-range fighters?" Naruko blinked. "Isn't that a little... I don't know, _unbalanced,_ since none of you do well in close-range combat?" Gaara cleared his throat pointedly, and Naruko rolled her eyes. "The only reason you know is because I forced you to, so I wouldn't get all high-and-mighty about that."

"Oh _shi—_ uh, I mean shoot!" Sasuke corrected himself as he ducked under a kunai thrown at his face, twisting his body around so he could easily catch the weapon. The Uchiha straightened up, switching his grip on the kunai so the handle was facing the shinobi in front of him, as if he was intending to give it back. "Please, not the face. The ladies dig the face," Sasuke informed him in the amused-yet-apathetic voice that only an Uchiha could pull off.

"Ah — they finally arrived," Gaara simply noted as his sand platform moved forward to engage the shinobi who were scaling the wall at an alarming speed. Ibiki rolled his eyes at Team 7 and went back to his post to bark orders at his subordinates.

Sakura turned to slam her head onto a nearby tree trunk while Naruko exhaled with forced calm, reaching over to grab the front of Sasuke's shirt. "Alright you _teme_ ," she glared at his irritatingly-smug smirk, "first of all: you _can_ swear; our _beloved_ sensei isn't here to tell us off. And secondly: from what I've seen in the Academy, I regrettably confirm — with the danger of inflating your already-massive ego — that "the ladies" do indeed "dig your face", as you so eloquently put it, but—"

"But dammit, you're a shinobi and you ain't gonna stay flawless forever and personally, thank Kami for that!" Sakura called over. "I can't be on a team with a male who is more beautiful than I am," she joked.

Naruko snorted. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Also, can you even call those shrieking banshees "ladies"? No, never mind — did you have to say that with a _straight face?_ Good lanta, there's no limit to your Uchiha-ness, is there?"

Sasuke smirked, peering down at his shorter teammate. "So... you admit you find me attractive, then?"

Naruko punched his chest, causing him to stumble back a step or two, laughing softly. "In your dreams, you ninnyhammer."

"You don't get a lot of "ninnyhammer" these days," Sasuke said thoughtfully before calmly side-stepping to let the shuriken pass him by. Sighing in mock-despair, Sasuke reiterated, "What did I _just_ say?" He motioned to the weapons embedded in the tree trunk behind him, which had been aimed at his temple, eye and neck. "Not the face, man— _hey!_ Who's side are you on?" Sasuke demanded, holding a hand to the cheek that Naruko had punched, and none too gently, either.

"The one who doesn't spout about their attractiveness in the middle of a battle," Naruko grinned wickedly. "And relax, it wasn't like I chopped off your limb. I simply gave you a blemish..." her grin widened even more, if that was at all possible. "Now your face isn't so "diggable" anymore."

"Ouch," the Uchiha muttered half-heartedly, rubbing his cheek. "I guess I had that one coming."

"Hell yeah you did," Sakura chuckled. "You were practically asking for it."

"Are you three always like this?" Kankuro questioned, tone nearing incredulity.

Sakura chuckled again, this time sheepishly as she brought up her right hand to rub the back of her neck — a habit she had picked up from Naruko, which Gaara also recognized. "Probably? We don't really know, because in the field or off-duty, we're pretty much always together. We don't really notice the way we act."

"So in other words... you're a package deal?"

Naruko grinned. "You want to fight the Uchiha survivor? You get to fight the Uzumaki and the Haruno, too. You want Haruno to babysit your kids? Sorry, you got saddled with the Uchiha and Uzumaki as well."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura didn't bother to hide her snickers; they were too true for them to even think of denying.

"Oi, Gaara, don't you even _think_ about— _Farquaad_ ," Naruko cursed. "Sakura, Sasuke, stay here and cover Kankuro in case someone disables his puppet or tries to get into close-range combat. I'm going after the sand-loving rodent."

"And why are you going after him alone?" Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Naruko's eyes twinkled. "Who said I was alone?" She lifted her finger skyward, where a white-and-green figure was flying overhead. "I have her, and the three of us work together like a well-oiled machine."

Sakura frowned, and looked over at Sasuke. "I don't like this one bit." The Uchiha glanced at the incoming forces, to Gaara, then Fuu, then at Naruko, and finally at Sakura with a pointed look in his eyes. The pinkette sighed. "Alright then... but just don't do anything stupid, Naruko. We all know you're the one who brings out the stupid in Team 7," she grinned.

Naruko scoffed, waving her off. "I'm hurt you think of me in such a way, _Sakura-chan_."

"Exhibit A: Sasuke Uchiha," the pinkette deadpanned before promptly shielding herself behind a tree when a Suna shinobi released a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough. "Right, well that's your cue to leave." Sakura shot her teammate a salute as she waited for the jutsu to blow itself out. The instant it did, she darted out to engage the perpetrator in chakra-enhanced taijutsu. The boy — he wasn't really old enough to be classified as a man — clearly wasn't expecting the pinkette to rush in head-on, and barely blocked a chakra-enhanced punch; Sakura had gotten the idea in the heat of the moment in Phase 2, but then she found out it was uncannily similar to the famed Slug Princess' unique taijutsu style. And from there, she had progressed beyond her initial plans.

Kankuro tilted his head with a somewhat impressed look before launching his puppet at an Oto shinobi who had slipped past the patrol shinobi. After all, it would be stupid have Karasu attack Suna shinobi who were acquainted with their own village's Puppet Corps.

Naruko smiled with a sisterly pride as Sakura easily kept up with her opponent, and was about to head over to Gaara when a hand closed on her wrist.

"Naruko, wait."

She turned back to see her dark-haired teammate, and found herself slightly taken aback at the concern shining in his obsidian eyes; he wasn't even trying to hide it. He seemed to be searching for something in her face; all the previous mirth and even the hidden twinkle in his eyes she had discovered in their very early Genin days had been snuffed out, showing her just how serious he was about this.

"Be careful," Sasuke murmured at last.

Naruko flashed him a slightly strained smile. "When am I _not?"_ she joked.

Sasuke frowned. "I _mean_ it, Naruko," he stressed. When Naruko furrowed her brow as a silent query of ' _Why are you so worried?'_ , his eyebrows drew together ever-so-slightly. "There's a lot of them, Chuunin or higher. Our skill levels might be around theirs, thanks to our advanced training, but they have a whole lot more experience than we do. And..." Sasuke hesitated, "and I won't be there to watch your back."

Naruko's lips curled up in a half-smile. "Does that scare you, teme?" It was a gentle question, not a jibe. Sasuke didn't answer, but the look in his eyes was more than enough answer. The smile turned gentle with understanding. "I know you're always watching. That's why I always cover your back..." Unable to resist one last playful tease, she added, "because you're too busy watching mine."

Sasuke released her wrist with a slightly miffed look. "Am not, dobe." But he recognized the affection hidden in her eyes and was smiling back at her — as much as an Uchiha could, anyway.

The blonde smirked at him before all the mirth disappeared from her face. "Not that she needs it, but take care of Sakura for me, ne?"

He didn't miss a beat; "Only if you promise to take care of yourself."

Naruko smiled softly at him, and held out two fingers. Sasuke looked at her in surprise, but held out his own fingers to complete the Seal of Reconciliation.

Sasuke had instinctively used the Seal of Reconciliation the first time he was the only one close enough to do anything about Naruko's dangerous flare of Bijuu chakra, and since any other kind of physical contact was a little too much for his emo-ness, he had settled for grabbing two of her fingers in his. Now, it represented a promise — neither of them were alone anymore.

"I promise," Naruko whispered.

Sasuke dipped his head in an imperceptible nod. "I promise," he echoed.

Naruko flashed him her infamous Uzumaki Grin, and instantly disappeared. "I can't believe you two started the party without me," she complained as she appeared between her triplets, who were shooting sticky strings and sand, respectively.

Fuu snorted. "Didn't want to break you and your boyfriend up," she answered, hands forming into the Tiger seal before she clapped her hands together, opening her mouth to exhale a large quantity of luminous fine powder. "Hiden: Hiding in Scale Powder Technique!"

"He's not my boyfriend," Naruko snapped back as she instantly rushed at the shinobi under the blinding cover of her sister's signature jutsu, knocking them out with swift chops to the neck or winding them with solid punches to the solar plexus.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Gaara called as he dug his fingers into the earth, allowing sand to spring up from the ground in the shape of hands, immobilizing multiple shinobi. "Try not to permanently disable them!" he called as another pair of sand-hands rose up from behind him, flinging back the shinobi that had managed to get past the trio.

Alarmed cries came from the shinobi as they flew through the air. Naruko ran at Fuu who cupped her hands, boosting her blonde sister into the air where she drew the Nietono no Shana and cut down two Oto shinobi before landing on Gaara's back, vaulting off him and back into the air. Fuu threw a paper talisman at her, which she caught between her pointer and middle finger with her left hand at the same time her right hand slashed quick, precise strikes at three of the remaining four shinobi Gaara had hurtled into the air for her, slapping the talisman on the fourth. He fell to the ground, twitching as electricity crackled around his prone form.

Naruko landed back onto the ground, flanked by Gaara and Fuu. "Since when do you carry seals around with you?" she asked with a surprised, yet pleased smile.

"Since my seal-nut of a sister wasn't around to magically whip them up for me anymore," Fuu answered with a grin. "Do you know how annoying it is to buy lots of things and then realize you don't have a storage seal on you?"

Gaara snorted. "Aside from your shopping sprees, I'd say that was nicely done. I see we're still as synchronized as ever."

"We never lost it," Naruko answered dismissively as her nodachi blade lit up with flames. ' _This is a great time as any to test it out._ ' Kurama hummed in agreement, obviously excited.

"Holy chalupas!" Fuu exclaimed as her sister suddenly became a yellow flash, a trail of fire in her wake as she darted from one end of the field to another. Gaara smothered a laugh at the looks of pure disbelief from Konoha, Suna and Oto shinobi alike.

"Great Blade of Crimson!" Naruko's voice called out over the clashing of blades, battle cries and pounding feet. She swung her nodachi horizontally, the flames that had previously been coating the blade shooting off in an expanding arc-shaped wave of fire. She watched in fascination as it swept over the shinobi; she recognized the symptoms of heat exhaustion in the aftermath. Predictably, the Suna shinobi were faring better than the Oto shinobi, though not by much. The flame was fueled by a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, after all.

Shaking his head, Gaara took advantage of their stupefied state upon seeing what looked like a reincarnation of the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze himself, and trapped as many shinobi's feet as he could with his sand. Fuu shot out her sticky strings and bound shinobi by groups of threes or fours to the numerous trees surrounding the area, while Naruko took care of the rest with her waves of fire.

"They just keep coming!" Naruko complained at the third wave of shinobi coming out. "Who is summoning them and from where in the damn forest? And how do the villages have this many shinobi? I swear even Konoha doesn't have this many... also, where the hell are the ANBU when you actually need them?"

 **"I believe they're busy trying to save the Hokage,"** Kurama answered blandly. **"Either that or they're keeping the invading shinobi from running rampant on killing sprees through the civilian districts."**

Naruko muttered under her breath, sweeping her nodachi horizontally through the air, downing a considerable portion of the invading forces. "How do I do fireballs...?" Naruko frowned at the nodachi, but shrugged. She'd train with Kurama later; after all, it had taken her an entire month to master Great Blade of Crimson. It was surprisingly harder than she had anticipated, because it required you to focus, have a strong intent and imagination to actually form the spell while simultaneously drawing on the correct amount of a Bijuu's chakra.

 **"You know, if you condensed the chakra more, it would bee like a legitimate blade of fire that could strike someone and deal some real damage,"** Kurama informed her. **"You could even set someone on fire, behead them, cut off their limbs, slice them in half... blades of fire do so much more than give someone heat exhaustion when properly condensed."**

' _Yes, but I don't want to permanently incapacitate them_ ,' Naruko answered, not at all bothered by her Bijuu's gory suggestions. ' _Not unless the only shinobi in the area are from Oto_.'

Kurama grumbled and reluctantly acquiesced. Naruko turned her attention to her siblings, who were moving in tandem — Fuu was flinging shinobi at Gaara so he could knock them into oblivion while he did the same to Fuu, who instinctively shot out strings to catch the shinobi and attach them to tree trunks without even looking. Naruko grinned when they noticed her watching and Fuu threw a paintbrush and two blank paper slips her way. The Uzumaki swiftly sketched her original Paralysis seals that were edged with an just a tint of Lightning chakra. Two Suna shinobi had slipped past Gaara and Fuu and were heading straight for her from opposite directions; Naruko dropped to a crouch at the last minute, sweeping her leg in a full 360-spin, knocking them both on their fronts so she could slap the seals she had just drawn onto their thoracic spines.

Naruko smiled a little too happily — ah, fūinjutsu. What a wonderful ninja art.

"Kankuro, _move!"_

Naruko and Gaara whirled around at the same time, and Naruko's eyes widened when she saw Kankuro turn at the sound of his sister's voice. Temari and Shikamaru had evidently finished off their opponents, and had finally caught up to them. Unfortunately, the warning shout had backfired and broke Kankuro's concentration; he was too slow to dodge the Oto nin who managed to get close enough to drive a kunai into the puppeteer's stomach, burying it up to its hilt. Kankuro's eyes went wide with surprise and pain, and he tensed a moment before blood spilled from his mouth and he crumpled to the ground.

" _Kankuro!"_

Sasuke was instantly onto the shinobi, slamming his knee into his torso and kicking his jaw with enough force to fly him over to Sakura, who met him with a ready fist. There was a sickening _crunch_ as her punch broke his nose and his head snapped back. Sakura's left leg shot up and kicked him back over to Sasuke, whose right hand was bright with the beginnings of a Lightning-based jutsu while the telltale chirping of birds filled the air.

"Chidori!" Sasuke roared as he ran to meet the shinobi's body. The ninja, with blood pouring down his face, futilely grabbed at a kunai and stabbed it into Sasuke's shoulder at the same time the Uchiha's jutsu pierced his chest. Sasuke kicked the shinobi's now-dead body off his arm, and dropped to wipe his blood onto the grass.

So there was something new to learn today: a Chuunin is no match for a furious Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. The poor guy was just lucky Naruko wasn't there, too.

Naruko grimaced; it seemed they would be having a talk about first kills later. For now, Sasuke appeared to be unfazed — probably the adrenaline and the anger. Sakura was already crouching beside Kankuro, her hands coated in green and pressed firmly against the wound. Temari's fan was held like a shield as she covered both Sakura and her brother, while Shikamaru and Hinata — when did the Hyuuga join them? — aided Sasuke in apprehending those who somehow made it past the jinchuuriki triplets and the Jonin on patrol duty.

Temari tensed as she felt demonic chakra pulsating in regular bursts. She slowly turned to see a very familiar scene — her youngest brother standing in the middle of a miniature sandstorm, but his wide eyes were fixed on Kankuro. The sand was slowly accumulating on Gaara's body, and the redhead shuddered before releasing a blood-curdling howl. The sand's speed increased and large appendages slowly morphed from Gaara's own limbs, coloured beige with a black pattern unique to the One-Tailed Raccoon.

"Oh, he did _not._ " Temari turned to see the blonde whiskered Leaf Genin beside her, scowling up at her struggling redheaded brother. "Why, that son of a half-blood prince!" She glanced at the eldest child of the Yondaime Kazekage. "No offense meant to your mother. I'm sure she was a lovely woman."

 **"Well... this should be interesting..."** Kurama blinked a little warily. **"Shukaku's coming out to play."** He paused. **"I don't think he should be coming out to play."**

' _Ya think?'_ Naruko said dryly. "Ibiki!" she hollered, and the Jonin blinked before looking over at her. "Get everyone out the immediate vicinity! Now!"

The head of T&I blinked again before nodding sharply, and barked orders were soon flying from his mouth. The Jonin and Chuunin didn't hesitate to obey him; the demonic chakra was flaring in a dangerous, uncontrolled fashion, and at any rate, it was looking more and more like a repeat of thirteen years ago, when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Except this time, there was no Yondaime Hokage to save them.

"Na **ru** ko!" Gaara's voice came out strangled, caught between his own and the Bijuu's. " **Do** i **t**! Do i **t now**!"

"Um, do... do we have a problem?" Hinata asked a little nervously.

"No," Naruko sighed irritably. " _He_ has a problem. _I'm_ just the idiot who keeps getting into one."

"You got that part right," Sasuke smirked. "Only, you keep getting into those problems because _you're_ the one who causes them in the first place."

"My, how typical of you, you heartless piece of meat and bones," Naruko teased.

" _Naruko!"_ Sakura's voice snapped. "I don't know if you've noticed, but your friend is turning into a Bijuu. Or at least, I think that's what's happening." The uncertainty in her voice disappeared as she added, "I don't think now is a great time for you two to be flirting! Besides, I've got a patient who needs to get off the battlefield so I'm going to need to borrow your boyfriend."

"We're not flirting!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "And I'm Tsunade Senju. Now get over here, Sasuke."

Naruko gently pushed her teammate. "Go on. I can handle Gaara; I've done this before." She turned her gaze upward to where Fuu was hovering. "Take care of them for me, Fuu," she called. The green-haired girl looked down and gave her a thumbs-up before flying down and grabbing Temari. Sasuke grasped Naruko's two fingers in his own and then left to help pick up Kankuro to take him someplace safer.

With her teammates, sibling and the Konoha shinobi out of the danger zone, Naruko turned her full attention onto her brother. Sealing her nodachi away — she didn't want to seriously harm Gaara, after all — Naruko bit the pad of her thumb and slammed it onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

And just like before, Gamakichi appeared. "Hey Naru, what's—"

"Sand Shuriken!"

Naruko grabbed the small orange toad and leapt out of the way. Landing safely out of range, the blonde checked on her summon. "You doing okay, Gamakichi? Sorry about that. But I just need to know, can you do any attacks?"

"Sorry Naru," Gamakichi said apologetically. He turned in Naruko's arms to appraise Gaara. "You'd be better off with the Chief."

Naruko groaned; last time she did that, she was knocked out for three days. "Right, well, thanks. You wanna stick around or go back?"

"I'll stick around," Gamakichi said. "I ain't letting my partner do this alone. Besides, I might get some experience or something... I dunno, something Pops always says the younger toads need more of."

Naruko couldn't help smiling and carefully placed him on her shoulder. "Okay, you stay there. If it gets too dangerous, I'm sending you back." Her eyes drifted over to her brother. "But I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that, though." Her hands rose into a cross sign, and multiple Shadow Clones popped into existence. She needed to buy some time to get ready for the moves she had been working on.

Gaara's transformed cheeks bulged. "Infinite Sandstorm Devastation!" A sandstorm burst from his mouth, consisting of wind mixed with his chakra-laced sand, and destroying the clones.

Naruko's lips thinned as she sent her Adamantine Sealing Chains flying out from her back. Some wrapped around Gaara as a temporary immobilizing technique while the rest slammed into the ground, chakra filling up the gaps and creating a barrier. She wasn't sure how long it would last while facing off with Gaara since she hadn't trained with her kekkei genkai as much as she would've liked, but at least this way, no one else was going to get dragged in. This was her brother, so this was her fight.

From within the Chuunin Exam arena, Kakashi's eye widened when he saw the familiar barrier, and his mind instantly took him back to the night when he lost his sensei and the only mother-figure he had ever known. ' _Naruko!'_

The girl chewed on her lip. ' _I don't want to hurt him too badly, but I have to subdue him._ ' She ran through the information Ritsu had drilled into her during the early, happier days. Her eyes went wide as they zeroed in on the base of the tail. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Flanked by her clones, the kunoichi started to run at her fellow jinchuuriki. Gaara — or Gaakaku, as they called him the first time Shukaku tried to overtake him — continued hurling Sand Shuriken at her. With her clones, Naruko was able to remain unscathed as she vaulted into the air and used the surrounding trees around her to dodge and shield herself. A flash of orange and navy blue caught her eye, and she felt the familiar weight resettle onto her shoulder. She lifted her hand, "Kai."

The Konoha shinobi and Temari braced themselves at the following tremors at the explosion. Temari's eyes were wide, "She used the toad to stick a kunai with an explosive tag at the base of the tail while she drew his attention."

"I'm taking a wild guess and saying that's his weak spot," Sasuke mused.

Fuu nodded. "He's not injured, but he can't absorb the impact." Suddenly her jaw went slack as she watched her sister's next move.

"What. The. HELL?" Sakura all but screeched, having joined them at the wall after stabilizing the older male of the Sand Siblings. "I can handle her fighting with regular fire, but _how_ , _why_ and _where_ in the name of Kami do you get _purple fire?"_

And indeed, amethyst-coloured flames were dancing around Naruko's fists. From where she had been hiding in the higher-up tree branches during the explosion, the kunoichi started throwing the uniquely-coloured flames at her fellow jinchuuriki. Gaakaku dodged them initially, but they followed his every movement until they finally made impact with his sand-body. Because of this, he was also unable to dodge the tendril of purple flames that shot out from the flaming orb hovering between Naruko's palms; it wrapped around him and flung him into a nearby trunk. The flames' colour apparently signified a unique property — in this case, purple represented stickiness, since Gaakaku was visibly struggling to get off the tree. Eventually, he gave a loud roar and slammed his fist into the wood, splintering it. Bark stuck to his back, but he was no longer tied down.

Fuu sighed, equally flummoxed. "I have no idea what kind of mutant she is, but if she wins, I'm not questioning anything anymore."

Sasuke stared, and then sat down cross-legged exactly where he was. "I need comfort food," was all he said as explanation, pulling out a bag of tomatoes from his hip pouch. He bit into it, but at his teammate's stare, obligingly pulled out a box of her favourite pickled plums. "Umeboshi?" he offered. And, as he predicted, Sakura instantly took them and started to snack.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Are you... okay?"

"We need comfort food," was all Sakura said in response.

The kunoichi looked over at Hinata, who was giggling. The Hyuuga patted her shoulder, "They're in what I like to call "Calm Insane Mode". It's where they're either so frustrated, exasperated or angry that they become calm and start snacking. Everyone on Team 7 has boxes of each other's comfort food just for situations like this. I find it funny and a little sweet."

Fuu was finding herself endlessly amused by these Konoha shinobi. "What usually triggers this "Calm Insane Mode"?"

Hinata thought about it for a moment. "Well, when Naruko does something stupid yet ingenious or pulls off an unorthodox move that would not work for anyone except her. For Kakashi-sensei, it's when he's either early or on time, and that freaks out his team. Sakura, it'd be when she causes mass property damage when she accidentally puts too much chakra into her taijutsu, because she's self-learning. For Sasuke, it's when he's incredibly arrogant and he does his own thing even though his teammates warned him against it. So he does it anyway, and Naruko and Sakura give up and become commentators as they eat while he suffers the consequences."

"Sounds like them," Fuu snickered. "Wait, since Naruko's favourite food is ramen... do they all carry instant ramen cups with them?"

"Sasuke always does," Hinata nodded, "but Kakashi-sensei and Sakura carry daifuku instead. It's her second favourite."

There was another loud roar that drew their attention, and both Temari and Fuu gasped at the sudden influx of demonic chakra. "It finally emerged," Temari breathed in horrified awe.

' _Oh shit._ ' Naruko's eyes widened. ' _Shit shit shit shit_ shit!'

 **"Yugito is going to pump your mouth full of soap and force your mouth closed for a good hour before washing it out, and repeating the process... how many times did you swear? Six times? She's going to repeat that process six times,"** Kurama drawled.

' _Not the time!'_ Naruko all but screamed at her tenant. ' _I swear he hasn't gotten this far since he first came to the Base._ '

 **"Looks like he's super attached to his brother, then."**

Naruko grit her teeth and bit the pad of her thumb again. "Gamakichi, vouch for me, yeah?" At the small toad's nod, the kunoichi smiled. "Alright then, let's do this one more time; Summoning Jutsu!"

There was an even larger puff of smoke, and a massive rusty-red-coloured toad appeared in the forest, towering well above the trees. The markings around his eyes, lips and chest were a brighter red, and he had a scar over his left eye. He was wearing a large blue happi vest with the kanji "蝦" on the back, and a massive dosu blade was sheathed at his hip. Between his massive lips was a kiseru pipe.

 **"You continue to give me such pleasure..."** Shukaku's hollow voice murmured as his bright yellow eyes narrowed at the massive summon.

"Naruko..." Sasuke dropped his tomato, and even Ibiki was looking at the Chief Toad in wonder. His onyx eyes found the bright yellow and orange standing proudly atop the toad's head. "What in the world...?"

"Hey 'Bunta," Naruko crouched down to pat the toad's head. "Mind lending me a hand in this fight?"

"That looks like... Shukaku of the Sand," Gamabunta murmured. He instantly remembered the night Minato Namikaze had summoned him to fight against the Kyuubi; now he had to fight the Ichibi for Minato's daughter, eh? History repeats itself indeed.

"You might as well, Pops," Gamakichi said cheerfully from his new favourite perch on Naruko's head. "She saved me from that guy, you know."

"Is that so?" Gamabunta mused, his eyes narrowing at the Bijuu. "Well then, kid... I'll work with you this time," the Chief Toad announced as he drew his dosu blade and crouched low before launching himself at the Bijuu to stab the weapon deep into Shukaku's shoulder. He pushed off the Bijuu, severing the sand limb as he lifted into the air. The dosu blade slammed into the ground, creating even larger tremors that had the spectators ducking for cover. Shukaku's right arm fell shortly after and disintegrated into sand.

"He's heavy," Gamabunta frowned. "I could barely dig my dagger into him."

Naruko was about to respond when she saw Gaara's eyelids falling shut. "Oh hell no!" she shouted. "Gaara, don't you dare fall asleep on me!"

"Fall asleep?" Sakura repeated. "What does she mean by that?"

Temari winced. "If one sleeps, Shukaku will slowly eat away at their personality, and eventually that person is no longer himself."

Naruko cursed loud and long in her mind as Gaara's eyelids fully closed thanks to the Feigning Sleep Jutsu. Almost instantly, Shukaku bellowed, **"I'm finally free!"**

"Water Style: Water Bullet!" Gamabunta spat a large glob of water at the Bijuu, who countered it with a Wind Bullet. The two cancelled each other out, but Shukaku continued to assault the airborne toad with more Wind Bullets, all of which were expertly countered with Water Bullets.

"Chief, can you get us closer? I need to wake Gaara up before Shukaku gets even more powerful." Naruko silently added, ' _And I'm forced to call out Kurama_.'

 **"I mean, I would be more than happy to—"**

' _I'm trying_ not _to wipe out Konoha by giving every living person there a heart attack, alright?'_

Kurama snorted. **" _Sure_. As if you don't already do _that_ by yourself."**

Gamabunta obliged; when he descended, he slammed his hands onto Shukaku's shoulders to hold him in place.

"Wake up, you redheaded _peasant!"_ Naruko shouted as she descended on him, smashing her fist across his face. Skidding down Shukaku's cheek, the blonde grit her teeth and ran back up to the now-awake jinchuuriki. Gaara was looking down at her somewhat dazedly as she approached at a rapid pace. Naruko cursed when the sand held her back from punching him again. ' _One more, just one more hit!'_ Realizing she wasn't going to win against the sand, and that Gaara was once more on the precipice of sleep, Naruko desperately threw herself forward and slammed her forehead against Gaara's.

Almost instantly, Shukaku reacted by whipping his tail around and slamming it into the toad's chest. The Uzumaki was thrown off, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the impact that never came; she instead slammed into something considerably softer than a tree trunk. The Uzumaki looked behind her to see Sasuke's face twisted into a grimace; he had broken her fall. It didn't take her long to check him over — ribs were fine and he was a little winded. But a question remained: how had he gotten to her?

Naruko blinked when she realized the Adamantine Sealing Chains barrier was gone, and had probably fallen long ago. "Oh, that does it," she growled under her breath as she stood back up. The blonde glared at the towering Bijuu who was regenerating his missing limb before opening her mouth and roaring, "SHUKAKU YOU MISERABLE AND IMBECILIC ONE-TAILED _RODENT!"_

Kurama whistled. **"Now you've done it, Kit."**

The massive Bijuu whirled around at the insult. **"Naruko Uzumaki, show some respect to your elders!"** he snarled.

A blonde blur suddenly appeared atop a tree, her azure-blue eyes alight with fury that changed it into a frightening shade of electric-blue. "The day I show _you_ any respect will be the day when you can actually get a damn hold of yourself!"

 **"Hey, I'm trying to protect both you _and_ Cub," **Shukaku snapped, anger sizzling slightly as his vision cleared enough. Damn, it was always hard when he was provoked into transforming. **"And this is the thanks I get."** He actually looked somewhat miffed at the girl's words.

"Protect us from what? _Konoha?"_ It was safe to say Naruko was left bewildered by the reasoning the raccoon gave. "Because in case you haven't noticed, we're doing a damn good job of driving back Oto and half of Suna."

Shukaku blinked. **"How do you know that?"**

Naruko let out a yell of frustration, on the verge of tearing her hair out at the half-witted raccoon. "Because _I_ make observations while _you_ think with your sand!"

 **"Well that quick thinking is usually needed when your observations get us into trouble!"** Shukaku retorted, said sand swirling around Naruko's waist and gently picking her up to bring her closer to the Bijuu.

By now, most everyone had realized the One-Tailed Raccoon had been released, and were now reduced to being spectators of the strange exchange between the Konoha Genin and the Bijuu. The deafening silence only made their exchange all the more louder. The Suna shinobi were in varying stages of shock and bewilderment, having been exposed to the devastating amount of damage and bloodshed this particular Bijuu could bring. The Konoha and Oto shinobi were, understandably, confused, but those who knew Naruko personally — the Rookie 9, a majority of the T&I Department and the ANBU — were either on the verge of facepalming or were simply amused.

The Mizukage was snickering loudly while his bodyguard was massaging the bridge of his nose while the Raikage's bodyguard was laughing uproariously. Needless to say, they were drawing some strange looks, but they didn't care one bit.

Naruko was glaring heatedly at the raccoon. "As I recall, _I_ was the one who specifically requested that _you_ not cause problems when none yet existed!"

Shukaku suddenly adopted a fake-innocent expression. **"Who, _moi?_ Why, the only trouble I've caused is collateral damage when ridding this planet of a few... _humans_. Namely the ones who reside in the same village my cute little cub does. But only because they did more than deserve it."**

Naruko facepalmed. "You do realize Suna shinobi are here, yes?"

 **"Ah, well,"** Shukaku shrugged, **"now they'll be aware of their flaws, and the consequences I will be more than happy to bestow upon them. Honestly... _humans_. I detest them,"** he growled.

"Well, hate to break it to you Shukaku, but around 90% of the world is inhabited by humans," the girl said dryly. "The other 10% would be the wilderness. What do you even have against humans, anyway? You lived with nine of them — three of which are the most aggravating on this planet, and even that's an understatement — for quite a few years."

 **"Humans are devious and deceitful. And most importantly... _stupid_."**

"Then it's a wonder you don't get along with them, Shukaku," Naruko deadpanned.

Yagura was doubled over, trembling with his mouth open in silent, suppressed laughter. "I have never been prouder of that little fox," he announced quietly to Utakata, who snickered.

"Ugh... what the hell... how is she not dead yet?" Kankuro's voice mumbled. Temari turned to see her brother propping himself up by the elbows; the puppeteer winced as Sakura applied a bit more pressure to his healing wound than necessary. "Sorry. I don't _want_ her dead, of course... but you have to at least admit that you also want to know how she can get away with all this and live."

"Remind me where Naruko was when the Kyuubi was attacking Konoha?" Anko commented to Kakashi, amused. The Jonin Sensei merely groaned, rubbing the area between his eyes. This girl would be the death of him; he just knew it.

"Wait, hang on," Temari was rather understandably dumbfounded. "Is she... _scolding_... a _Bijuu?"_

The surrounding shinobi tuned back in to the argument; "You can have fun all you wish, but that _does not give you a license to destroy my home!_ Or Suna, for that matter... dammit Shukaku, you know better than this!"

 **"Naruko, stop bullying me~"** Shukaku all but whined, causing all the Suna shinobi to almost faint in pure shock.

"I am not bullying you!" Naruko cried in exasperation. "Kami, Shukaku, you're such a _child!_ Let go of Gaara, _now_. Or do I need to call Kurama out here?"

 **"No!"** Shukaku squawked. **"Don't let him out! Don't let him out!"**

Naruko raised an expectant brow. "So will you release Gaa-chan? Because I'll have you know I have no qualms whatsoever about summoning Kurama out here. And I'm sure he would _love_ the opportunity to chew you out himself, _in person._ "

 **"You're damn right I would!"** Kurama cackled in her mindscape.

 **"But it _hurts!"_**

A twinge of sympathy flashed across Naruko's face. She shifted out of the sand's hold, leaping to land on the raccoon's nose — she stifled a giggle when he went cross-eyed in an attempt to look at her — and rubbed the spot between his eyes. "I know," she cooed soothingly, a stark contrast from the screaming girl who had savagely ripped into him with her words. "And I'll try my best to fix your seal. But you still have to at least try to rein in your bloodthirsty nature, you know. You can't take over every time Gaara's emotions rage as high as a teenage girl going through puberty on steroids. Besides, I don't think it helps him in being accepted by Suna... like, at all..." Naruko couldn't help sweatdropping at the mere thought.

Shukaku pouted. **"Fine... but only for you, kit."**

Naruko paused. "Does that mean you're going to wake him up or I have to? Because I don't quite fancy smashing my head against his again." A cheeky grin spread across her face. "Although I'm sure you would _love_ to take on the role of Gaa-chan's _mother_ and wake him up with cooings and kisses. After all—"

 **"Kurama,"** Shukaku suddenly ground out through gritted teeth, **"do control your host's _insolence_ so I can _concentrate_."**

Kurama's lips curled into a smirk. **"Kit."**

' _What?'_ Naruko drawled.

 **"Control your insolence. The raccoon is concentrating."**

Naruko felt a smirk pull at her lips at the faint mocking lacing her Bijuu's words. She knew they were both more than amused by the situation.

"Gamakichi, let's head home," Gamabunta sighed. The smaller toad acquiesced, and the two left in a puff of smoke back to Mount Myōboku.

The sand fell away as Shukaku's demonic presence dissipated. The redhead started to fall; after all, Bijuu were rather large. Naruko instantly launched out of the safety of the trees and grabbed her brother, landing lightly on the ground. She knelt down and laid Gaara down on the grass, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and leaning up his upper body against her shoulder. "Hey," Naruko smiled softly when Gaara's eyes cracked open.

Gaara only groaned, bringing up his hands to cover his eyes. "The light... it's so _bright_."

Naruko giggled. "Well, it _is_ the sun," she reminded him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," he answered hoarsely.

"Okaa-san would hit you for that kind of language," Naruko said absent-mindedly. She turned at the footsteps and saw Sasuke, who was holding a bottle of water. Smiling gratefully at him, she uncapped it and brought it to the redhead's lips. "If you don't drink this willingly I will—" Naruko blinked as Gaara practically inhaled the water. "Never mind..."

Gaara sighed and relaxed against his sister, feeling vibrations in the ground that signified people dropping down from the wall that bordered Konoha. Four pairs of feet ran over to them, but he ignored them. "I can't believe I just transformed," he murmured. "I swear I had a better handle on that..." He allowed Naruko to pull him to his feet, swaying a little. "Ugh, I haven't gotten that far in so long. No wonder my head feels like it got battered like a piñata."

"To be fair," Naruko reasoned as Sakura moved forward to press a glowing hand to Gaara's temple, "you only flipped out because you saw Kankuro get gutted like a fish." She didn't miss the startled looks the middle child of the Sand Siblings shot her.

Gaara glared. "Another thing: did you have to smash my head so hard? You actually drew blood!"

"Hey, it's a double-edged sword," Naruko pointed to her injury that was a twin to Gaara's. "Hurt like hell for me, too. You think I actually _enjoyed_ that?"

Gaara shot her a deadpan look. "Considering how much you loved sparring, yes."

Naruko rolled her eyes with a grin, and squatted down so she was facing Gaara's stomach. "Hey, Shukaku. I want you to know that I do love you and all since you're a part of my family too and I kinda grew up with you, but if I hear of you taking over Gaa-chan again when he's not in a life-or-death situation, the next time I get my hands on you I am going to throttle you, and then some. Are we clear?"

There was silence, and then a meek, **"Yes."**

Naruko grinned. "Good. Thank you, Shukaku." She stood back up and grasped Gaara's hand. "I want you to come with me when you're done checking with your siblings and whatever else you need to do. I think I'm finished with the modifications to your seal."

* * *

 **OMAKE 1:**

"So... I'm not sure I want to ask this, but what happened to all the Oto shinobi?" Yagura asked as he looked around. "I can only see Konoha and Suna shinobi, as well as the Genin who came for the Chuunin Exams. But there's not a single Oto hitai-ate to be seen."

Fuu looked bored. "All of them dead..."

A ribbon of fire fluttered around Naruko's fingertips, an identical bored look on her face as she drawled, "...all by me..."

"...just like you're about to be," Gaara finished, a claw of sand rising up and crushing air in an overly-dramatic fashion.

Team 7 sweatdropped while the Sand Siblings shivered slightly.

* * *

 **OMAKE 2:**

Naruko paused as another Suna shinobi flung by her head, courtesy of her brother. "This is very boring," she announced randomly. These shinobi were probably low Chuunin-level; all the Jonin were most likely back at the arena.

"And how do you suppose we make things more fun?" Gaara drawled.

Naruko grinned and flung out her arms as she started to wave them in a sort of impromptu little dance. "Supercalifragilistic—"

"—expiali...nano," Fuu giggled while Gaara simply hummed along.

* * *

 **(1) According to the internet, Kakashi Hatake was fourteen when Naruto Uzumaki was born**

 **(2) According to Narutopedia, Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza were part of the 15th generation InoShikaCho, making Ino, Shikamaru and Choji the 16th generation**

 **A/N: For Omake 2, search up** Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War — Gag Reel #2 **(it's 0:43 long) and skip to 0:28**


	15. Invasion: Aftermath

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **To those of you who were wishing desperately for Yugito and Naruko to finally reunite...**

* * *

Yagura Karatachi stared up at the painfully white ceiling. He was so. Damn. Bored. This is why he hated hospitals — there was nothing to do, and the medics were so damn set on you staying in the bed. He was the distinguished Yondaime Mizukage and the Three-Tails' jinchuuriki to boot; he didn't need their Medical Ninjutsu crap.

Seeing that no one of importance was around — Utakata had gone to get food or something, Yagura hadn't really been listening to him — the jinchuuriki slipped out of bed and silently made his way to the window. He noted with no small amount of glee that it was unlocked, and slowly edged it open. He could make his escape, and they would never force him back there because he would be long gone by the time they—

" _Yagura Karatachi!"_

Yagura froze. "What the hell are you doing here?" he blurted out as he spun around, only to be greeted with the sight of a certain redheaded woman. Utakata was behind her, his hand covering his smirking mouth.

From where he was quite literally strapped to the bed, the Yondaime Raikage snickered at his fellow Kage's undoubted demise. Yagura glared at A, who simply bared his teeth in a wide grin.

Mei Terumi growled as she marched over and grabbed the front of his shirt, practically throwing him back onto his bed. "Get in bed and stay there, or so help me I will give you _another_ reason to be hospitalized!" she snapped. Yagura stiffened as she drew nearer, her turquoise eyes gleaming with murderous intent. He shot a pleading look at Utakata, but his traitor of a brother raised his hands with an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Wow, _Mizukage-sama_ ," A drawled, "domineered by a woman. I never would've thought it. And you put up _such_ a _wonderful_ fight not two hours ago."

"Shut up," Yagura muttered, crossing his arms. "I seem to remember a certain _someone_ having to call down their bodyguard to fill in for them as they recovered from using too much chakra all at once, when I _specifically_ told you not to."

A snorted. "Right, but remind me, who was it that—"

Yagura's saving grace was the door slamming open as a voice chirped, "Mei!"

The fuchsia-eyed man breathed a sigh of relief, sagging back into the hospital's lumpy pillows as Mei turned a 180, a bright smile lighting her face as she opened her arms. "Naru-chan!"

Naruko and Mei had met during the time the blonde had been in Wave. Having assumed both of Kiri's jinchuuriki were escaping the stuffy office — not that the redhead blamed them — Mei had gone to drag them back, only to find them playing around with a Genin team from Konoha and a S-rank missing nin and his apprentice. That had been a somewhat awkward yet interesting start to Zabuza Momochi's reinstatement as a shinobi of Kirigakure, but what turned out to be even more intriguing was Mei's instant interest in Naruko. And when the unknown undergarment that had caused Yagura so much grief a few years ago became known to be Mei's, that cemented the relationship. The two exchanged a lot of stories, all at the Mizukage's expense, and by the end of the C-turned-B-rank mission, Naruko and Mei were acting like any other sister duo. While it gave Yagura a headache, it was an endless source of amusement for both Utakata and Naruko's Genin team, not to mention his new swordsman. Zabuza still enjoyed teasing him about it from time to time — how the great, distinguished Yondaime Mizukage had been reduced to a whining child at the hands of two mischievous females.

A blur of yellow barrelled into the taller redhead, laughing. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey bro," Killer Bee grinned as he sauntered over to A's bedside. "Overdid it, did ya? _Fool, ya fool_..." he trailed off with a knowing smirk.

"Shut up," A growled. "Don't you _dare_ rap in my presence — I have a pounding headache and my limbs are heavy as shit and I don't need your Kami-awful raps to make it worse."

Bee chuckled; his brother was always cranky when he was hospitalized. Having to room with the Mizukage, who was a child in a teen's body, would've undoubtedly made it worse. And A was the only one strapped to his bed; that was quite an impressive feat, finding bindings that would hold the Raikage's fearsome brute strength. He idly wondered which shinobi — or kunoichi — in Konoha would require restraints such as these. Bee then turned his attention back to his de facto siblings; the redheaded woman was talking to Naruko.

Mei grinned, "Not sure. Utakata used his bubbles to pop over to my office, grabbed me, and we popped right back here. I came in to find this idiot," she motioned to a pouting Yagura, "trying to escape via the window... probably why Utakata thought it was best to grab me." She then turned to her childhood friend, "I know you have... fast healing abilities, but could you at least _try_ to not aggravate the Konoha medics? They're not as used to your stunts as the ones in Kiri are... don't even think about it!" she snapped when she saw Yagura inching off the bed. "See, this is exactly why you should instate me as your secondary bodyguard — someone needs to be your Jiminy Cricket, but unfortunately, as your former Genin teammates only Utakata and I can deal with you."

Yagura huffed and crossed his arms. "Fiiiiiiinnnneeee," he drawled out, pointedly ignoring the snickers at his childishness. He then remembered something and turned to Naruko with a smile, "But what are you doing here, little fox? Not injured, are you?" He shifted over and patted the empty space. "C'mere."

Naruko obliged, hopping up on the bed and snuggling close to her older brother's warmth. "I heard you, the Old Man and Raikage-sama were hospitalized after your battle with Orochimaru and the first two Hokage. So I came to check on you, and I also figured you also wanted to know why the Adamantine Sealing Chain barrier went up and Shukaku's chakra flared out of control." At their nods — Utakata included and Mei's raised eyebrow — Naruko started to recount what happened after they left the arena.

Fuu had come in just before Naruko got to the point where she summoned Gamakichi, and her many interjections of their — Sasuke, Sakura, Temari and herself — reactions were nothing short of hilarious. Naruko actually grinned when the Taki kunoichi informed her of her team's comfort food habit, and promptly took out a notebook and scored another tally under her name. A quick peek showed that, over the course of the team's formation, Kakashi's tallies were slowly falling behind his Genin, with Sasuke and Sakura tied and Naruko a point or two ahead.

When she was done, Yagura returned the favour by telling her all about the battle between the two legendary shinobi, the Snake Sannin, and the three other Kage. Utakata interrupted more than a few times to correct his theatrics, which Yagura would respond with a rolled eye. A wasn't too badly injured; just chakra-exhausted from using his Lightning Armour the entire time against Tobirama Senju, who was almost like a predecessor of the Yellow Flash. Yagura had taken quite a few heavy hits, but he didn't care all that much since he had fast healing — that earned him a hit on the head from Mei. The one who truly took the brunt of it all was Hiruzen Sarutobi. While still alive, he was most likely never going to use chakra again. But then again, Konoha ninja were the ones who always proved the impossible — Kakashi Hatake was a prime example, what with his implanted Sharingan eye.

"I think I'll go visit jiji," Naruko said at last, carefully slipping out from under Yagura's arm and off the bed. "Be back soon," she smiled brightly at them as she left the room, waving back at her friends and siblings. She passed Gaara on her way; the redhead smirked at her as he slipped into their brother's room. A second later, Naruko heard a high-pitched shriek, followed by a, "GAARA NO SABAKU, YOU... YOU REPREHENSIBLE F-K WAFFLE!" drowned out by laughter, the loudest of all being the two Kumo shinobi.

Naruko shook her head and continued down the hallway. She peeked through a glass window in the door room 302, and smiled when she saw the Sandaime talking to a man with long white hair. She knocked lightly, and skipped in when beckoned. "Hi jiji, Pervy Sage."

"Polliwog," Jiraiya greeted in kind.

"Naruko," Hiruzen greeted more formally, though he had his usual warm smile on his wrinkled face. He held out a hand. "How are you, child?"

"Never better," the blonde chirped as she obliged the old man with a hug. "So if it's not classified, would you let me be a sticky-beak and ask what you were talking about?"

Hiruzen and Jiraiya exchanged an amused look before the Sannin cleared his throat. "Sensei was just trying to get me to take up the hat, but I absolutely refuse — too many responsibilities with the spy network and all that. However, I do have another candidate that would be perfect for the Godaime Hokage..."

Naruko raised an eyebrow. "You're stepping down, jiji?"

"Yes," Hiruzen sighed. "After this particular battle, the medics calculated my ability to use chakra again to be basically nil. And quite frankly, I'm too old for this shit. Have been for thirteen years." He nodded in Jiraiya's direction, "I'm trying to convince him to take the hat, but he's still fixed on refusing the position so he can stay a spymaster."

"Hmm," Naruko hummed thoughtfully. "So Pervy Sage, who are you thinking of? Kaka-nii?"

"No, I was—" Jiraiya paused. "Actually... that's not a bad idea," he admitted. "Kakashi Hatake as the Godaime Hokage. A tad young, but then again the Yondaime was, too. As the son of the White Fang and the student of the Yondaime, he's quite well-known. Talented, no doubt about that, and is loyal to Konoha and isn't biased or easily swayed and so would therefore look out for its best interests... and add to that, he has the Will of Fire."

Naruko pondered over it a moment more before shaking her head. "No wait, I take it back — he's as lazy as a Nara but only half as smart. If he becomes Hokage, I bet Kiba's going to convince him to create a "National Dog Day", or something equally preposterous, and he would actually do it. I wouldn't even be surprised if the first move Kaka-nii made as Hokage was to blow up the moon."

Jiraiya and Hiruzen sweatdropped a little at the casual insult. "That's a bit far... don't you think?"

Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Well, Jiraiya — who did you have in mind for the Godaime Hokage, if not you? And I sincerely hope it is someone willing and who isn't a clan head, otherwise I may not be able to stop Danzo from taking the hat."

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... I'm not sure if she's willing, but she definitely isn't a clan head..."

" _She?"_ Hiruzen and Naruko asked simultaneously in identical surprise.

The Toad Sage smothered a smirk. "Yes — _she_." Jiraiya then turned to his goddaughter, smirk widening. "So, polliwog, what do you say to going on a little trip with me?"

* * *

Naruko absent-mindedly hummed her childhood berceuse as she exited the hospital. Jiraiya had offered to take her on a training trip, of sorts, and Naruko couldn't say she wasn't intrigued. But as for the Godaime Hokage candidate... ' _Who do you think it'll be, Kurama?'_

 **"Probably Tsunade Senju of the Sannin,"** the fox answered with a wide yawn. **"You know, the one member of the Sannin you have yet to meet."**

' _Hmm_ ,' Naruko hummed again. She caught a flash of navy and beige out of her peripheral vision and her pace quickened to a jog. "Hey, Hinata!" she called as she caught up with her friend. The Hyuuga heiress, who had been walking with her sensei, turned around with a welcoming smile as she responded in kind. "I was wondering if you could take me to where Neji is?" Naruko asked hopefully, futilely dodging Kurenai's hand that sought to mess up her hair. Naruko pouted at the Jonin, who simply grinned at her.

"Sure," Hinata nodded with a smile, "I think he's home. Kurenai-sensei..." she looked over at the red-eyed woman uncertainly, but Kurenai waved her off with a smile.

"Don't worry about it — I've seen this look in Naruko's eyes before and this means that she's set on something, and I have a hunch it's got something to do with fūinjutsu. Am I wrong, Naruko?"

The Uzumaki shifted from foot to foot with a sheepish smile. "Well..."

"That's a yes," Kurenai laughed. "Alright, I'll go find the other Jonin Sensei. We can finish our talk some other time, Hinata."

"Mm. Thank you, Kurenai-sensei." Hinata smiled at her mentor and tugged on Naruko's sleeve, already taking a few steps towards the Hyuuga Compound.

"Don't mention it."

"See ya, 'Nai-nee," Naruko waved at her before turning back around. "So, Hyuuga Compound?"

Hinata nodded. "What do you want with Neji-nii-san?" She stopped and faced her friend, "Please tell me you aren't going to lecture and roast him..."

Naruko stared at her friend before bursting into laughter. "No, of course not," she chuckled. "But now that you mention it..."

"Please don't. I actually like him."

Snickering, the blonde grabbed Hinata's hand and they started walking again. "No, I'm not going to do anything like that. I just want to get a few copies of the juinjutsu on his forehead. Give me a few weeks and I might be able to find a way to undo it."

"Really?" Hinata gasped.

"Yes, but I need you to keep it a secret, okay Hinata?" Naruko flashed a mischievous smile at her. "After all, your father is the clan head, and I doubt he'd be happy I found a way to remove it. But I don't like seeing people in pain, either."

Hinata hummed and started to move a little faster with a skip in her step. It didn't take long for them to finally arrive at the Hyuuga Compound — they took care not to be seen by the clan head, the elders or Hinata's sister, Hanabi — and Hinata led the way to Neji's room. She knocked on the door, "Neji-nii-san? Someone's here to see you."

There was a rustling and then soft footsteps. "If it's Tenten, she knows she can just come—" Neji paused when he finally saw who was in front of him. "You."

Naruko rolled her eyes. "Wow, could you _be_ any more enthusiastic?" she asked dryly. "Yes, sorry to disappoint, but it's me. Not your girlfriend, but plain old Naruko Uzumaki."

Neji narrowed his eyes in a glare. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Sure," Naruko said breezily as she moved into the room. "Now get in here and kneel."

"Excuse me?" Neji demanded. "You can't just come into my room, uninvited no less, and ask me to _kneel_ before you!"

Naruko sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Idiot... if you don't want to kneel that's fine, but I need to reach your forehead and in case you _miraculously_ haven't noticed, I'm not that tall. So either get me a stool, please, or sit down."

Neji blinked in surprise. He turned at Hinata's soft giggle. "Naruko, you should explain things in a more... understandable way," the soft-spoken heiress chided as she, too, moved into the room to find a stool for her shorter friend. "Neji-nii-san, Naruko is here of her own volition because she has developed an interest in the Caged Bird Seal, and wishes to undo it."

"Maa maa... so formal..."

Neji's eyes widened as he quickly shut his door and whirled on the blonde. "Is this true?"

Naruko sighed, dropping to her knees as she pulled out six paper slips and an ink brush. "Yes, it is. I came here to copy your seal, and depending on the complexity, within a few weeks I should be able to find a way to remove it. Of course, I've never worked with juinjutsu specifically before but hey, in the end, it's one big puzzle just waiting to be solved." She flashed a grin at Neji. "They didn't call the Uzumaki Clan Fūinjutsu Masters for nothing, you know."

Neji's throat bobbed, and he allowed his cousin to gently tug him over to the floor, where he sat opposite Naruko, who was writing with a brush on a white paper slip.

"This," the blonde held it up, "will be going on your forehead, so please remove your hitai-ate. And don't worry; it won't do anything to you."

Neji hesitated, but removed his hitai-ate, setting it down on the ground, and baring his forehead for the room's occupants to see. Naruko gently applied the seal to his forehead, inked side on his skin. Her thumb, middle finger and pinkie were pressed against the talisman while her right hand was splayed out on the floor with all five of her fingertips touching a blank paper slip each.

"This may tickle," Naruko warned, and then sent chakra into her fingertips. Neji couldn't help but shiver slightly at the foreign feeling, but stayed still as best he could. Both Hyuuga watched in a mix of fascination and awe as the Caged Bird Seal slowly etched itself onto the five paper slips that had previously been blank. At last, Naruko smiled in satisfaction and removed the talisman on Neji's forehead, nodding happily at the five copies.

"How did you do that?" Neji whispered.

Naruko flipped the seal around to show him. "This is a sort of transference seal I made up when I was feeling particularly lazy as a child," she admitted with no small amount of sheepishness. "It copies what I want it to and transfers it to another paper. Think of the original as... a train, which runs along the tracks, which in this case would be a person's chakra. The destination would be the empty paper. It was so much easier to do homework when I could just copy and paste slabs of textbook content," she snickered quietly.

"Why do you need five?" Hinata asked curiously, cautiously picking one up to inspect.

"Ah — one is for study purposes only, so no experimentation. Kind of like a base to go back on. I can also copy it again so I don't have to keep coming back here if I mess up. Three of them are for experimenting, and the fifth is so I can double-check the removal method actually works and wasn't a fluke or something."

Naruko stretched, popping her joints. "Well anywho, that's that. I'll be leaving with my perv of a godfather for a week or two. I'll have the removal method ready by the time I return," she smiled at Neji, who still looked doubtful.

"I am unsure of whether to take your word for it," Neji paused, "but I thank you for trying."

Naruko shook her head with a smile, standing up and gathering her materials. "Don't mention it, Neji. It's just what friends do." On her way out, she paused at the doorway and tilted her head at the cousins. "Besides... you're an important person to Hina. And that's more than enough reason for me."

* * *

A finger pointed at a short, sandy-haired boy, "So Bi— uh, regenerative properties..." the finger moved to the platinum-haired mountain of muscle beside the first male, "...and apparently iron skin coupled with fast healing..." Mei Terumi placed her hands on her hips and huffed, shaking her head. " _Men_. I never understand why you don't like staying in hospital."

"Better get used to it," Gaara materialized from thin air beside her, causing the taller redhead to clap a hand over her mouth to muffle her shriek. The Suna Genin smirked, and then glared at his brother. "You're a hellion," he stated flatly.

"And proud of it," Yagura answered with a wide grin.

"If it weren't for your status as the Yondaime Mizukage, the Konoha medics would no doubt refuse to treat you ever again," Naruko commented as she walked up to them, Fuu in tow. "You had the medics either crying or tearing their hair out over you within the span of half a week. I can't say I'm not impressed — Konoha shinobi are notorious for escaping from hospital windows the minute they wake up."

Yagura shrugged unrepentantly. "I hate being confined in white buildings, anyway."

Naruko rolled her eyes, and looked over Gaara. "You ready?" At the redhead's nod, she grabbed his elbow and dragged him to a nearby training area. "Why are your siblings spying on us?" she asked under her breath, amusement lining her voice.

"I have no idea, and quite frankly, I don't want to know," Gaara murmured back. "Do you want me to ask them to leave?"

His seal-nut of a sister shrugged indifferently. "They can watch if they want; it doesn't matter. I'll just speak a little louder so they don't freak out and think I'm unsealing Shukaku, or something." She paused. "Actually... I need Shukaku for this."

Gaara sighed at the blonde's apologetic eyes, raising a thumb to his mouth. "I hope I don't do it wrong this time." He ignored Naruko's muffled snickering and bit down on the skin, swiping his now-bloody finger over his torso, where the seal was. He quickly performed the sign sequence — he didn't perform this enough to be able to pull it off without hand signs like Naruko and Fuu — and in a small puff of smoke, a miniature Shukaku appeared on the ground. The two jinchuuriki exchanged pensive looks at the twin sharp intakes of breath above them.

Naruko motioned for him to take off his shirt. Gaara grimaced; he'd have to take off his sash, the gourd strap and the gourd itself, his shirt and the fishnet underneath it. Too much work just for a simple fix-up. Naruko seemed oblivious to his annoyance as she knelt down before the raccoon. "I'm going to adjust Gaara's seal now, but there's a certain aspect of it I need your help with," she said quietly. Shukaku tilted his head. "It's a hidden feature, and I hope it will never be used, but one can never be too careful, right?"

Shukaku nodded, and listened carefully as Naruko explained.

"Are you done?" Gaara asked dryly. Naruko turned to see that he had taken off his upper body clothing and smirked. "What?" the redhead asked warily as his sister approached with a devious look on her face. "Naruko..." he started warningly, backing away a little. He released a startled yelp as Naruko's arm shot out too fast for him to see, giving his abs a hard poke. " _N-Naruko!"_ he shouted, mortified, his pale cheeks colouring faintly as the blonde fell to the ground giggling and clutching her aching torso.

"Aw, Gaa-chan, you're still such a _prude_ ," Naruko giggled. "Ah, if I keep laughing like this, _I'll_ be the one with rock-hard abs."

Gaara rubbed his abdomen with a pout. "I can still feel the phantom pain. You poked me way too hard," he complained.

Naruko rolled her eyes, finally sitting up. "Alright, alright, let's get to fixing your seal. Shukaku, by my right, please. You know what to do." The Bijuu obeyed, waddling up to the girl's right. "It would be best if you stayed standing, and try not to flinch," Naruko smirked. "If you thought my poking was hard, this is gonna hit you like a _truck_."

Gaara winced, but stayed firmly planted where he was.

"For your siblings' sake, I'm going to repeat what I said before so they don't think I'm working on releasing Shukaku or something," Naruko murmured. Gaara rolled his eyes but nodded. "These seal additions should make it more comfortable for both you and Shukaku, and it'll be more of a help in filtering his chakra than your previous seal. It's kind of like how my seal filters Kurama's chakra to be more of a healing component in most situations, and if I draw on it intentionally, a booster. So if the next time the raccoon gets riled up or protective, you at least have a handle on his reactions. This will work in a similar fashion, but of course it won't be the same since I had to build it up on this atrocity."

Gaara rolled his eyes again, this time in fond exasperation. "You're an Uzumaki, so of course you have to criticize every single seal you stumble across... but this time, I really must agree with you on this particular seal. It's _horrible_ , and even that's an understatement."

Naruko hummed a familiar tune as she started fixing up the cracks and adding more seals to the one on Gaara's torso. She was appalled by the quality, but didn't speak of it. She narrowed her eyes at the product of her work, and nodded in satisfaction before embedding the personalized hidden feature. She then had Shukaku's sand trace over the latest addition, imbuing that aspect with his chakra.

The Uzumaki scrutinized her work before holding out a hand to Shukaku. Her fingertips felt the flaring unpredictability that was commonly associated with the Wind element; she gave her brother a warning look. Gaara nodded at her, and managed to brace himself without tensing his muscles before her five fingers slammed into his torso, cementing the seal's additions. Shukaku looked up at her, and Naruko nodded. The Bijuu approached his wheezing jinchuuriki with a bit of apprehensiveness, looked back at the female jinchuuriki, shrugged and then dove at the seal.

Gaara's eyes went wide when the raccoon disappeared into it like a ripple in a pond. "How... wh-what...?" He poked at this seal, all coherency flying from his mind. "Did he just disappear into my seal like a waddling penguin?"

 **"I am _not_ a waddling penguin!"** Shukaku cried indignantly, from in Gaara's mind; the redhead snickered.

"So your siblings have disappeared," Naruko mused, "time to head back." She held out a hand, which Gaara took, and led him back to their de facto family who were, unsurprisingly, bantering.

"No no no, if you want to bury a body, bury it _vertically_ ," Utakata was emphasizing. "Most people would look for holes approximately six feet long, because that's suspicious. Ideally, though, you should drain the body of fluids in a tub—"

"Mix said fluids with bleach and let them soak before draining, and take precautions to keep your house from smelling like death and whatnot," Yagura interrupted.

"Yes, correct," Utakata nodded vigorously. "That keeps the body's decomposition at bay for a bit and also makes it easier to cut up. It's also easier to bury a head rather than the whole body, so it takes less time and you can always just tell your neighbors, " _Oh I'm gardening!"_ if they happen to be particularly nosy."

"Another method is to put it in a septic tank," Mei interjected. "They're a plethora of bacteria, and the smell of waste covers the scent of decomposition very well."

Yagura snapped his fingers, nodding approvingly. "Yes, that is also correct." He paused. "And you should also make sure to destroy the teeth and massacre the face and burn fingerprints — or just remove the fingers in general — to keep from identifying anything other than DNA."

"Wow," Gaara commented dryly, "I guess this is why Kiri is called the Bloody Mist."

"I swear, we have not used these on anyone," Yagura instantly put his hands up. "This is just what I've gleaned from... books."

Naruko and Gaara stared blankly at him for a moment before Bee added, "And if you're cleaning up a crime scene, wipe down everything, then use your victim's hands to touch things, like cups and table surfaces. A room with zero fingerprints is equally suspicious."

"I don't want to know how you know this," Gaara sighed.

Yagura shrugged with a smirk. "Oh, and this may not apply to you since you don't live near the ocean but you might as well know this just in case — drain the body and cut up the cadaver into small pieces, then mix it with fish parts and dispose of it easily by pretending to chum the water for fish and sharks. And you should probably actually chum the water for a bit before dumping in your victim so that there are plenty of hungry fish around, and then stick around to fish for a bit so anyone who happens to see you won't get suspicious. This way you don't have to deal with any body parts lying around waiting to be dug up and identified. Plus, you might catch a Marlin or something."

"What do you mean "just in case"?" Gaara demanded at the same time Fuu snickered, "You might catch a Marlin..."

"Why are you teaching your younger siblings how to get away with murder when you should be conferring with the other Kage?" Mei motioned to the Raikage, Takikage and wheelchair-bound Hokage, as well as Baki from Suna.

"Oh shoot!" Yagura yelped, darting over and instantly launching into an apology as he quickly integrated himself into the conversation.

Mei then turned to the triplets and lowered her voice with a conspiratorial gleam in her eyes, "Do not, under _any_ circumstances, forget that the chances of being caught are greatly reduced if you murder someone who has no connection to you at all. Most murderers end up killing someone they know in some fashion, so they're easily caught. Serial killers kill at random, hence why they can kill a lot before they screw up. Understand?"

"I am seriously concerned for all of you Kiri nin," Gaara said flatly. Mei only smiled with faux sweetness at him, patting his head as she leaned back into a more relaxed position.

Killer Bee glanced over at his second-youngest sister, who had to make a witty quip. She looked distracted, and he had a hunch as to what was on her mind. "Naruko?" The blonde looked up at his gentle voice. "Something wrong, Little Britches?" the Kumo shinobi asked kindly.

Naruko couldn't help smiling at the old nickname. "Um, it's just..." she bit her lip, struggling to find the right words to say. "I was wondering... is she... how is—"

"Yugito?" Killer Bee guessed, his voice still gentle. Naruko nodded, heat rising to her cheeks. Why was it so hard to inquire after the well-being of the one who had raised her?

Killer Bee heaved a sigh. "Yugito has her own way of coping with the separation. She trains every day, taking missions back-to-back. It's the reason she isn't here right now. To be honest, I can't help but wonder how much longer it will be before she goes past her limit." At the growing alarm on the whiskered face, he added, "I always end up forcing her to take a break here and there, but you know your mother — stubborn as hell."

Naruko allowed a small smile to shape her mouth. "I know. She passed that down to me."

"No," Utakata smirked, "that's a mix of her and Kushina. A lethal combination if ever I saw one." At the blonde's wide-eyed look, Utakata said softly, "We had a lot of happy days, Naruko. But despite all of that, we never really were a family." His lip quirked up. "Until you came along and turned our worlds upside-down. And just when we got used to you, another two troublemaking brats just _had_ to come along."

" _Rude!"_ Fuu gasped in mock-hurt, shoving Utakata as hard as she could.

The Kiri ninja nearly fell over laughing. "I didn't think it was possible, but you appear to have gotten even _more_ annoying, Fuu!" He barely managed to scramble out of the way as the Taki kunoichi's fists slammed a hair's breadth away from his face. She didn't let up on the assault, and Utakata had to resort to running around until Yagura was ready to leave.

Naruko sobered down from her giggling fit, and looked over at Killer Bee. "I don't suppose you could give her a message for me?"

The taller shinobi hummed. "Why don'tcha write it down? It'd be a heck lot more reliable than I am, that's for sure." He lowered his voice, "And I'm sure Yugito would treasure that more."

Naruko bit her lip; he had a point. "Okay," she smiled. "I'll be right back." She Shunshin'd to her and Kakashi's apartment, grabbing a piece of paper and an ink brush. Her brow furrowed as the brush moved with fluid grace, until she nodded with satisfaction. With a quick nip of her thumb, she was done.

"Here you go!"

Killer Bee jumped. "You weren't kidding when you said "be right back"," he said in faint disbelief as he took the envelope in his large hand. "You're going to give me — or someone else — a heart attack one of these days, y'know? Geez, and I thought you were bad as a kid..."

Naruko grinned and wrapped her arms around her tallest brother as far as they could go. "Thank you for doing this," she said quietly.

"My pleasure, Little Britches," Killer Bee smiled down at his baby sister. She had grown so much in the time they were apart. "While the Chuunin Exams turned out to be a bit more than I initially bargained for, I had the chance to see you, Gaara, Fuu and those two rioting idiots again." He and Naruko shared a laugh. "And that's more than I've ever allowed myself to hope for. I'm just sorry Yugito couldn't be here with us at this impromptu reunion, too... if I could swap places with her, I would. In a heartbeat."

Naruko shook her head, pulling back. "As much as I love and miss her, I would never trade any of you, or this moment." She chuckled as Yagura, while still in a conversation with the other Kage, nonchalantly stuck out his staff to trip his bodyguard, enabling Fuu to tackle him to the ground and causing said Kage to all simultaneously sweatdrop. "I'm going to miss this," she murmured. "And I'm going to miss all of you."

"Ah, we'll miss you too, Little Britches," Killer Bee said affectionately, ruffling her hair. "But don't you forget," he knelt down to look her right in the eye, "this is not goodbye. We'll find our way to each other again. We always do — be it fate, coincidence or intention, we'll meet again. And next time, it'll be all nine of us. I'm sure of it."

Naruko broke out into a smile, throwing her arms around her brother's neck once more. She saw the rest of her family lingering nearby, and threw them a strange look. "What are you all standing around for? You look stupid. C'mere!" she laughed, reaching out her arm to them.

"We do not look stupid," Gaara muttered as he allowed himself to be drawn into the hug.

"Group hug!" Yagura announced cheerfully, throwing down his staff as he bounded over to trap his youngest siblings between him, Utakata and Killer Bee. The tallest of them all let out a loud, booming laugh as he wrapped his arms around all five of them and hoisted the group into the air, still trapped in their human cocoon. **(1)**

"Nooooooooooo," Fuu moaned as she was instantly squished between the bodies. But everyone knew she wasn't all that against it, if the side-splitting grin on her face was any indication.

"Ack, can't breathe!" Naruko gasped out.

"Ah, this reminds me of the good old days," Gaara said calmly. "When my ribcage was tested in daily intervals for endurance. I'm surprised none of them broke."

"Now that's just mean, Gaa-chan," Fuu pouted as they were finally let down. "Alright, I guess it's time for me to leave," she deflated when she saw her team and Takikage waiting patiently by the Konoha Gates. She turned to her family with a smile that was obviously forced, tears springing to her amber eyes. "I'm going to miss all of you."

"Stay safe, Fuu-chan." Utakata gave her one last hug, Killer Bee ruffled her hair, Yagura gave her some candy for the journey, and Gaara and Naruko enveloped her in a hug from either side. Fuu smiled, trying her best not to let the tears fall as she basked in the warmth of her siblings' love. I mean, why wouldn't she? All that was waiting for her back at Taki was loneliness and solitude.

After a long moment, she reluctantly pulled away from the warmth. She smiled at them through her tears, still holding their hands as she started to walk backwards, until eventually she let go. Naruko and Gaara didn't move; if they did, it would only be more painful. So with one last smile, the girl turned around and jogged to her team. She didn't look back.

Naruko turned back to Killer Bee, Yagura, Utakata and Gaara. "Looks like you guys are next," she said quietly to the Kumo and Suna shinobi. They turned around at the same time to see A finish talking with Baki, and the Sand Siblings approach them.

"We've already said our goodbyes," Naruko said when Gaara turned back to face her. She gave him a reassuring smile, "All I ask is that you try to make your life at Suna work. Make friends. Let yourself be the little brother that you and I know Temari and Kankuro want. Give them a chance, okay? And even if they screw up, forgive them and grant them another chance. They'd be new at this too, you know. You can learn how to be your own family together."

The redhead nodded, squeezing her hand. He smiled at his older brothers, and then looked over at his biological siblings, who had stopped a few feet away. A mischievous grin started to light up his face as he and Naruko exchanged a mutual look that every jinchuuriki knew all to well. Gaara inclined his head at Kankuro, but Naruko shook her head and jabbed her thumb at Temari.

Gaara tilted his head and furrowed his brow slightly, _Why?_

Naruko shrugged. _I like her._

The redhead thought about it and nodded in consent. _I like her better, too._ He paused as a faint panic sparked in his eyes. _Don't tell Kankuro that!_

Naruko started to laugh.

"Should I be worried?" Utakata asked two-thirds of the triplets, putting a hand on each of their heads, and was rewarded with innocent smiles that clearly said "yes".

The older of the two swatted at the younger's head before wiping his face clean of emotions. He cleared his throat, nodded respectfully to his older siblings and Mei, and then began to make his way over to his biological brother and sister.

"Should we be worried?" Temari unknowingly repeated Utakata's question to Kankuro, who shrugged. The blonde swallowed lightly, having been wary since the moment Naruko pointed at her. She turned her eyes back to in front of her, and started when she realized Gaara wasn't there anymore.

Naruko's lips were quivering from the effort taken to restrain her mirth as she saw her partner-in-crime materialize behind his unsuspecting, oblivious siblings. He tilted his head at Naruko, as if trying to ask her what to do next.

"I have a bad feeling," Utakata muttered, feeling the blood flow in his arm being cut off from his beloved younger sister — note the sarcasm in this particular instance — clutching it in a vice-like grip. Thank Kami there was the kimono sleeve to cover his bare skin, or else he would have nail indents that would surely last at least a week.

Gaara lightly tacked a shrinking seal on Temari's fan so that he could tuck it into his pouch. He didn't give her any time to react at the sudden lack of weight as he launched himself into the air with his sand before abruptly whisking it away and back into his gourd. Gaara grinned as he started to free-fall, his targets right below him. He flipped mid-air so he was plummeting feet first, and he stretched his arms our as far as they would go, tucking his legs tightly against his chest. He felt his arms slam into something solid and instinctively curl to secure a better grip as his descent abruptly halted.

He cracked open his eyes and saw that he had succeeded; his arms were hooked around Temari and Kankuro's necks and he was quite literally dangling between them. Understandably, shock and bewilderment were painted across both Temari and Kankuro's faces. But as for Gaara... a genuine grin split across his face as he shifted his weight to flip over and land on Temari's back. "You owe me free BBQ ribs next time," he called over to Naruko, who gave him two thumbs-up and a grin.

"G-Gaara!" Temari stuttered.

The redhead craned his neck around to look at her curiously. "Do you want me to get down?"

"Um..." She wasn't quite sure how to respond. On one hand, it was absolutely unexpected and his sudden friendliness was, quite frankly, almost scary. But then there was that maternal side of her, the part that she had forcibly buried a long time ago. The part that wished more than anything for their family to be complete again, even if it was to consist of only herself, Kankuro and... her baby brother; Gaara.

"I can, if you want," the soft, albeit slightly disappointed, voice offered.

Temari blinked at her brother, and smiled tentatively at him. "No, you don't have to..."

She felt something warm burst in her chest at the genuine surprise and undiluted joy that came over Gaara's face. He loosely wrapped his arms around her neck and relaxed against her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I've always wanted to do this," he murmured, almost to himself.

Kankuro watched as Temari's eyes softened, and she looked over her shoulder at the redhead with a warm expression. Said redhead was acting like a child who had missed his nap, and it was disconcerting, to say the least. His sister glanced at him, seeming to read the subconscious want in his eyes. Th middle child of the Sand Siblings hesitated a moment before tentatively reaching out to ruffle his baby brother's hair. He froze when Gaara turned to look at him, but instead of a glare, there was only pure curiosity. But he didn't pull away — in anything, he seemed to be leaning into the touch. Kankuro couldn't help but compare his expression to that of a puppy.

"Tired, kid?" he asked with a slight smile. And really, he couldn't blame him. It had been a long and exhaustive day for all of them. And Gaara had used up more chakra than both of his brother and sister combined. Gaara let out a mix between a groan and a whine, burying his face in Temari's shirt. Kankuro let out a chuckle. "Well, looks like it's time we put the baby brother down for a nap."

"It's a three days' journey to Suna, dummy," Gaara mumbled half-heartedly, and Temari started to laugh.

The remaining Sand Sibling's eyebrow twitched as he started to interrogate the blonde. "What did he say? I know he said something insulting! Come on, spill it!"

Gaara turned his head to face Kankuro again, and stuck out his tongue childishly. Kankuro gaped at the bold and inane actions of his formerly-psychotic brother. "Well if you're going to act like you're five again, I do hope you're not expecting us to be acting like we're seven and eight, too."

The redhead tilted his head blankly, and his older brother leaned down to smirk at Gaara, "You _do_ remember the two kids who played with you in the sand pits when you were like, five, don't you?"

Gaara blinked again, delving deep into his memory, all the way to before he had come to the JA Base and found the true meaning of family. ' _That's right... there was a girl, and a boy. They were fascinated with the way I formed things with my sand. The boy, he asked me to make sand into the form of food. And then he—_ '

Silently, the redhead maneuvered the sand out of his gourd. Temari shifted slightly so she could be ready to jump between the boys if need be, but didn't completely block him; she didn't want Gaara to think her words were fickle, just when he was opening up to them. As they watched, he molded the sand into a shape that largely resembled a rather big pile of excrement. It floated to hover over Kankuro's head before being unceremoniously dropped on him.

"Wha—!" Kankuro spluttered as sand crashed all around him. He hacked and coughed as sand grains found their way into crevices he didn't even know were possible. "What was that for?!" he cried indignantly.

Gaara deadpanned, "You wanted me to make a big pile of poop." He coolly held the puppeteer's astonished gaze before the brunette burst into laughter. Temari sighed at her brothers' antics; if she could facepalm, she would've.

Gaara relaxed once more into his sister's hold, resting his cheek on her shoulder. ' _She's warm..._ ' He idly wondered if this would've happened earlier, had he acted like himself around them; the person he was around Fuu and Naruko. While he had put in a lot of effort to be a better person since the separation, he never really made an effort to forge or nurture any kind of relationship. He would sometimes look at the families in his village with envy, wishing he still had one to call his own. And he would look at Temari and Kankuro, and wish he could be like any other little brother that was loved by their older siblings. But then he remembered his burden — his _duty_ — and pushed those feelings away. But maybe things would change when they got back. Maybe—

"Temari, Kankuro. Let's go."

"Hai," Kankuro and Temari answered as they started to walk towards their sensei. Baki's face twisted strangely at the sight of Gaara being piggy-backed by Temari, but said nothing. As long as he was happy — and he definitely looked content enough being held by his sister — then he wasn't complaining. He would take that over a dangerously silent and brooding Gaara any day.

The daughter of the late Kazekage smiled slightly as she readjusted her grip on her brother. She felt Gaara's breathing change, and glanced back at him. Her eyes widened; was he sleeping?

"Not sleeping, just meditating... deeply..." Gaara mumbled, as reading her thoughts. Temari's lips curled in a sheepish smile, not that Gaara would've seen it — his eyes were still closed. It was like he was putting all of his trust in her in just one moment... Temari liked it. She was also pleasantly surprised to see his features softening into youthful innocence with the appearance of a sleeping child.

' _He's so small for his age..._ '

Kankuro fell in step beside her, and stared at Gaara for a moment. "What do you think's gonna happen once we get back to Suna?" he asked in a low voice, so as to not disturb the meditating jinchuuriki.

Temari sighed. "Well, with Father dead, there's no real reason for him to be ostracized anymore. It was always the Council and Father's fear that kept him separate from us."

It may sound heartless, Temari mused, the way she spoke of their father's demise. But while she and Kankuro had grown up in a home with a father, they hadn't been all that close. He was more of a supervisor than anything; he stayed in the Kage Office for hours on end and was never warm or loving with his children.

"I believe that, as well as Uncle Yashamaru's death, was what fueled most of his rampages." She sighed again, shaking her head. "Look at him, Kankuro. He's just a child."

"He's a shinobi, a jinchuuriki—"

" _He's our brother._ "

Kankuro halted at her sharp tone. Temari sighed, "I'm sorry, Kankuro," she said in a softer voice. "I didn't mean to be so harsh. But when I think about Gaara's childhood... did he even have one? He was always alone. And after that one day we spent with him in the sand pit, we were forbidden from seeing him again. The villagers and shinobi are both terrified of him because of his ability to manipulate sand. We used to walk around the village together, Kankuro... do you ever recall seeing him happy?"

The puppeteer shook his head. "I've never seen him smile, let alone act, the way he did in these past few days, especially when he was with those foreign nin." He glanced ahead at their sensei, and then back at his sister. "We both knew something changed in the past two years. I'm willing to bet everyone else realized it too, but are afraid he'll revert back at any time. Cowards, the lot of them... at least we _tried_ to spend time with him. Until he, you know, threatened to pick us up with his sand and throw us out of his room. Which is actually better than the previous threats of killing us."

Temari smiled grimly. "We'll just have to help Gaara prove to them that he really has changed for the better." Her teal eyes softened. "You've always wanted a younger sibling, Kankuro. I know he did... things... in the past, but he seems to genuinely want to build a relationship with us. And yes, I know that the drastic change seems... _strange_ , to say the least, but..." she snuck another glance at her precious cargo, "he's never willingly shown weakness in front of us before." Temari turned her eyes back to Kankuro. "So you'll have forgive me if I enjoy being an older sister."

Kankuro shook his head. "No. You'll have to forgive me in advance... for spoiling him rotten." He grinned as he darted on ahead. "I have a lot of years to make up for, you know!"

Temari let out a soft groan, but she was smiling. "You better not destroy his innocence!"

"Oh, please! That brat is anything _but_ innocent!"

"Don't taint him with your pervertedness!" Temari added as an afterthought, "And I don't want you teaching him how to play with those puppets of yours, either!"

"I'm not perverted! And why the heck not? It's not playing, it's a traditional fighting style!"

"Keep saying that enough times and maybe someone will end up actually believing you," a tired voice drawled. "Now please be quiet so I can continue resting."

"Sorry Gaara," Temari smirked at Kankuro. Looks like their baby brother developed a nice sense of humour.

"How the heck is he resting?" Kankuro whispered loudly, falling back to beside Temari. "We're tree-jumping. Surely that's not comfortable for him?"

"It's surprisingly comfortable," Gaara confirmed, lifting his face enough that only his seafoam-green eyes were seen peeping over Temari's shoulder, causing the older boy to let out a "manly" shriek. "If we were walking, I'd be jerking up and down, and _that_ would be uncomfortable. Also," he buried his face into Temari's shirt again, "she's warm. Now lemme _rest_ , damn you."

The older siblings exchanged amused looks, and no further words were exchanged until Baki had them stop at a preferable clearing that would be used as their campsite.

* * *

"Aw, that's so cute," Naruko cooed as she watched the Sand Siblings walk through the Konoha Gates. "That's the budding of a beautiful siblingship. I'm so happy for Gaa-chan."

"I wonder what the kid deserved to make Gaara drop a pile of crap on him," Yagura cackled.

Utakata rolled his eyes, "Grow up; you're the Mizukage."

"So?" the shorter male snorted. "I can still find amusement in pranks and other... such things."

Naruko waved back at Gaara, smiling as the Sand Siblings and their sensei, Baki, left the village. She quickly hugged Bee goodbye before he and the Raikage left, and then it was Mei, Yagura and Utakata left. She sighed, hands on hips as she addressed the brothers, "Why is it always you two that's left?"

"What are you talking about?" Yagura exclaimed, offended. "I'm the Mizukage, I can do whatever I so please."

"Stop procrastinating your paperwork!" Naruko threw her hands up in exasperation. "Surely it's not all that bad?"

"Oh it's that bad," Yagura, Utakata and Mei deadpanned in unison.

Naruko sweatdropped. "Yagura, as much as I love you, you have to learn to stop procrastinating. I'll send you a letter, so you'll be hearing from me soon. Oh, and send my regards to Zabuza and Haku for me, please?"

Yagura pouted, but obediently created an Aqua Portal for easier transport. Utakata gave Naruko a playful salute while Mei hugged the girl quickly, and the two disappeared through the portal. Yagura followed his friends, throwing a wink at Naruko and holding a forefinger to his lips in the classical universal sign of "sh". Just before the portal closed, the blonde heard two angry voices scream in tandem: "YAGURA KARATACHI, YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"

Naruko snickered at her the misfortune that befell the two Kiri shinobi, and undoubtedly came in the form of her childish older brother's pranks.

"Hey polliwog, you ready to hit the road?"

She would never admit it, but Naruko jumped at her godfather's unexpected voice. "All packed," she smiled and patted the side her obi, which had storage seals embedded in it and held at least two weeks' worth of the necessities she would need for the impromptu trip. Her hip pouch and kunai holster were full, as well. "So, where are we headed?" she asked casually as she fell in step with the tall man beside her.

Jiraiya glanced down at his left side, and smiled slightly at the familiarity of it all. "Ah, about that," he hummed as he looked back ahead. "Our current destination would be the next town around half a day's journey from here. There, I'll come into contact with my spy network and then we can get to chasing Tsunade."

"Tsunade Senju..." Naruko mused. "Did she know my parents?"

Jiraiya blinked in surprise. "Yes, she did... I believe your mother labelled her your godmother at some point, though I'm not entirely sure. The two did spend quite some time together since the Uzumaki and Senju are distantly related, thanks to Hashirama Senju's marriage to Mito Uzumaki."

Naruko hummed in acknowledgement. "So, Pervy Sage, while we're on this trip, do you think you could teach me the Hiraishin?"

Jiraiya gave her a half-smirk, half-smile. "Polliwog, the only jutsu your father ever taught me was the Rasengan. I can tell you the basics and the theory behind the Hiraishin, but from there you'll have to figure it out by yourself."

The blonde sighed in disappointment. "Better than nothing, I suppose," she mused. Jiraiya chuckled, and obliged his goddaughter by launching into a lecture of the basics of the Hiraishin's development, starting from the very beginning — Tobirama Senju's Hiraishingiri.

* * *

"Yugito?" Killer Bee poked his head into his comrade's apartment. "You home?" As usual, silence answered him. Releasing a mix between an exasperated huff and a sigh, the shinobi Shunshin'd to the particular training ground that his fellow jinchuuriki favored. "Yugito," he called, covering the gap between them in a few strides.

The blonde woman paused in her training, sweeping back strands of hair that had fallen out of her usually-immaculate braid. "Bee," she greeted with a warm smile, catching the water bottle he tossed at her. "You're back. How was... it?"

Killer Bee motioned for her to sit on the grass, and she did. He sat down next to her, and released a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. "It was... eventful, to say the least," he said with a thoughtful look; no one was around, so he didn't have to sugarcoat his words by rapping. "Oto and half of Suna invaded Konoha halfway through the third phase."

"Suna?" Yugito looked over at him expectantly.

Killer Bee smiled sympathetically. "They were there, Yugito — Gaara, Fuu, Yagura, Utakata... and of course, Naruko."

Yugito stayed silent, taking a swig of the thankfully-cold water.

"She was taking the Chuunin Exams—"

Yugito choked, and Killer Bee stopped. It didn't take long for Yugito to regain her composure as she repeated incredulously, " _Naruko_ was taking the _Chuunin_ Exams?" At Bee's nod, the woman leaned back on her elbows, staring at the sky blankly. It was happening; her child was growing up, and she wasn't there to see any of it. She wasn't there to guide her, to be a listening ear or a shoulder to lean on. Although, when she further reflected on Bee's words, Fuu and Gaara had also been present which meant they were participating in the Chuunin Exams, so the same applied to those two as well. A hollow ache in her chest started to grow all too prominent.

"How did they go?" she finally asked.

Bee shrugged. "Dunno. They got interrupted because of the invasion."

Yugito sighed. "Right... of course." She absent-mindedly swirled the water in the bottle. "How was she?"

Killer Bee had to strain to hear the softly-uttered question, but it was one he had been waiting for. Without hesitation, a large grin broke out on his face. "Same old Naruko — stubborn, smart-mouthed, talented, friend to all. Really hasn't changed a bit." His grin softened to a smile. "But then, in some ways, she has changed. She's grown up." He glanced sideways at the woman he had grown up with for most of his life. "I think you'd be proud of her."

"I am," Yugito answered quietly. "Whatever she does, wherever she is, I'm always proud of her."

The shinobi smiled, stretching out onto his back. "Man," Bee chuckled to himself, "her face when she realized most of us were there was priceless. So was everyone's reactions, actually—"

"What?" Yugito's head snapped around, and Bee instantly held his hands up in defense, though he wasn't sure what it was that he had said to trigger her. " _Everyone's_ reactions?"

Bee nodded slowly. "Gaara kinda went out of control during the preliminary matches, so Yagura, Utakata, Naru and I went down to calm him down and help him regain control."

"In front of everyone watching?" Yugito demanded.

"It was just the Genin, their sensei, the proctor, two Jonin from the T&I Department... oh and the Sandaime."

Yugito groaned. "What happened to keeping our relationship on the down-low? I thought we all agreed to pretend we never knew each other unless we were from the same village."

Bee blinked. "Yeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh, that went out the window the minute Naru and her team stepped foot in Kiri."

Yugito's brow furrowed. "What happened in Kiri?" she asked warily. "And how do you know?"

"Ah, we had some down-time together between the second and third phase of the exam," Bee said nonchalantly. "So we swapped stories. Anyway, long story short, Naruko and her team had a C-rank-turned-B-rank mission in the Land of Waves. And naturally, as our favourite blonde is a trouble magnet, who should show up but Demon of the Mist Zabuza Momochi? So of course our _brave_ and _daring_ Yagura and Utakata step in to save the day... but inadvertently hinted to past relations. Naturally Naruko's team grew too curious for their own good, and she had to tell them she previously had a family that split up across the Five Great Nations because of an unspecified threat. Dunno how long she can hide the specifics... or really, how much she _wants_ to, would be the better question."

Yugito rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Trust Yagura to be the one to blow our cover. And to think he, of all people, made Mizukage..."

"I know," Bee chuckled. "It should've been Utakata." He smirked to himself as he heard Yugito hum in agreement. "Anyways, so Naruko and Gaara had a rather interesting reunion. And then of course, Fuu spotted them both from across a roomful of Chuunin-hopefuls. I'm thinking it was Chomei that helped her eyesight grow even sharper, or maybe it's because they have brightly-coloured hair." He paused. "Now that I think about it, all three of them had weirdly-coloured hair. Bright yellow, red and green. What's up with that?"

Yugito snorted in amusement. "Did you have a point, Bee?"

"Right — from what I heard, they made quite a scene before the first phase of the Chuunin Exam. I think it's safe to say that quite a few people know that three kids and high-ranked shinobi from different villages know each other. But on the upside, not many people can make the connection since jinchuuriki identities aren't exactly widely advertised."

"Thank Kami for that," Yugito responded with a quiet chuckle. She sighed, stretching out on the ground. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped."

Bee pursed his lips as the silence that befell them. "I'm sure A would've asked you to come with us if you hadn't been on a mission at the time," he said quietly.

Yugito scoffed, throwing her water bottle onto the ground. "Yeah, well, that was my own fault." Her voice lowered, as if speaking to herself, "It would've been nice to see them again."

Bee paused, unsure if he should ask the question that was on his mind. After an internal debate, he went for it — Yugito wouldn't hurt him too badly. "Yugito, you voted for separating and going back to our home villages. But you don't... and please don't take this offensively, but you don't seem to be coping very well with it... for lack of better terminology?" He held his breath, hoping against hope that Yugito wouldn't attack him.

The kunoichi's jaw was practically trembling with how tightly it was clenched, and her hands were in a similar state, clenched so tightly together her knuckles were white. "The Akatsuki were a problem that, had we ignored it, would spell disaster in the future, whether near or far. And I couldn't stand the thought of putting Naruko, Gaara or Fuu in harm's way. The danger was too great, and they were just children. They still are."

"But?" Bee prodded gently.

Yugito lowered her head, not wanting the other shinobi to see the hot tears pricking her eyes. "I dealt with the problem. I just had no idea what the solution would do to me." Her voice broke at that last three words, and Bee knew he had pushed his limit. He stayed quiet, giving Yugito time to collect herself. The admission toed the very fine line which separated what the woman would and wouldn't talk about.

Only when Yugito appeared to be able to speak once more without breaking did Bee remember a concerned child's request. "Oh before I forget again," he pulled out an envelope from his kunai pouch and held it out to the kunoichi. "This is for you."

The blonde's heartrate quickened as she recognized the neat handwriting that spelled out her name. Tentatively, she reached out to take it. "Is this...?"

"Yeah," Bee nodded in confirmation. "She asked me to give you a message, but I told her to write it down. Figured you would prefer that." He glanced at the setting sun, and stretched. "I'd advise you to go home now," he said with a smile. "I know you'd rather train 'til you drop dead, but just once, give it a rest. Go home early, shower, eat something. Read what Naruko gave you."

Yugito stood up wordlessly and nodded in assent. The two walked silently to her apartment and bid each other good night. And just as Bee was about to walk back to his place, Yugito called out to him. "Bee... thank you."

The Kumo shinobi gave her a genuine smile. "No need to mention it."

The kunoichi entered her small apartment, sighing to herself at the hollow and empty feel. She had allowed herself to be used to the warm, homey atmosphere of the Jinchuuriki Base. Even in the two years that had passed, she still somehow expected there to be someone making dinner, or for a blur of yellow to come flying at her the moment she opened the door.

Not particularly feeling like cooking anything, Yugito headed straight for the bathroom to have a quick shower. Five minutes later, Yugito was curled up on her bed with a steaming cup of green tea on her bedside table. She flipped the envelope over, hesitating only a moment before biting the pad of her thumb and smearing the blood on the seal, which then broke. "Blood seal," she murmured with a small smile. "Clever."

"Thank you."

Yugito nearly upset her cup of green tea as the voice spoke. Her eyes shot up from the paper to the smiling blonde girl sitting cross-legged on her bed. The kunoichi's mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to comprehend where she had come from and what she was doing here. She glanced at the paper and saw that it wasn't a letter, but a storage seal.

Yugito looked back up, her eyes narrowing a little as she looked closely at the girl — long blonde hair, twinkling azure-blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek.

"Naruko," she breathed.

"Hi okaa-san," the girl smiled. "One second." She got off the bed and stood there for a moment, eyes closed in concentration. Then, without warning, she suddenly lurched forward.

"Naruko!" Understandably alarmed, Yugito leapt to her feet and darted over, just in time to catch her daughter before she hit the floor.

Naruko groaned. "Ow... that was not fun," she muttered. "I felt like I got pulled all the way here with some strong, invisible force. I need to work on that."

"What was..."that"?" Yugito asked as she picked up the girl in her arms and carried her back to the bed, setting her down comfortably.

Naruko shot her a smile. "There was a Shadow Clone in the storage seal, originally, but I had an experimental seal on her back. She sent a little chakra to it and we... sort of Kawarimi'd. So now she's in the hotel room, and I'm here... I say hotel room because I'm currently travelling with my godfather in search for the future Godaime Hokage."

Yugito frowned slightly. "First try?" At the younger blonde's sheepish nod, the woman let out a soft sigh. "Naruko, how many times have I told you — don't experiment your seals on yourself unless you're sure they work."

Naruko smiled sheepishly. "Sorry?"

Yugito shook her head with a smile and reached out to pull her daughter close. "Well, I'm happy you're here now. It's... good to see you." The woman felt her mouth tug upwards when Naruko practically melted in her arms, returning the embrace. The elder blonde leaned back a little and narrowed her eyes playfully. "You've changed."

"Not really," Naruko shrugged. Noticing the hidden melancholia behind the seemingly-casual observation, she added with a gentle smile, "Not ever."

Yugito smiled and shook her head slightly; this girl had always been good at reading her. Too good, sometimes. Perhaps it had something to do with being able to sense negative emotions, but whatever it was, Yugito Nii could never hide anything from Naruko Uzumaki, and not from lack of trying, either.

"Ne, okaa-san, can we go sit up on the roof?" Naruko asked hopefully. At her mother's raised eyebrow, she elaborated, "I want to see the stars. Like we used to."

The Kumo kunoichi pursed her lips — the roof had generally been reserved for serious talks, but sometimes served as hers and Naruko's place to stargaze — but nodded. She wrapped a blanket around the girl's shoulders, and the two used their chakra to walk up the wall and settle on the flat roof; Yugito leaning against the pointed rock that protruded from the middle of the roof, with her daughter nestled against her chest between her legs. The blanket was large enough to wrap around them both, encasing them in a sort of cocoon-like position; the blanket covered them so the only body part visible were their heads.

Since Kumogakure was somewhat elevated due to being situated in the mountains, they had a beautiful night sky, on the occasion that clouds did not obscure it. Tonight was such a night, the blue haze of day had lifted to reveal the stars. They shone like sugar spilled over black marble, some clustered together and stretching far beyond their vision, like a tear from one dimension to the next. To Naruko, the night sky was always a welcome sight — appearing like magic at each sunset and promising to return as it faded in dawn's first light.

Yugito had never looked at the stars for more than a passing glance in the past three years; they held too many memories. Memories of when she would take her young daughter up to the roof and tell her stories about the constellations, or when Naruko was upset by something but didn't want to speak about it. Once, the stars had been her favourite... and now they only served as a reminder of what had been, and what never would be. But for a moment, just a moment, Yugito would allow herself this one indulgence. After all, Naruko was here with her. And for now, it was all that mattered.

And then Naruko's soft voice broke the familiar silence. "Bee-nii told me about how much you've been training, and how you've been taking missions back-to-back. And quite frankly, okaa-san, I'm worried."

Yugito sighed through her nose and shifted to rest her chin on the girl's head. "There's nothing to be worried about," she murmured.

"I beg to differ," Naruko huffed. "Endure too much, and it'll be your loss."

Yugito blinked and lifted her head to look down at the girl in her arms. Naruko tilted her head back to look up at her after the lack of weight, a silent query in her ever-expressive eyes. Yugito lifted a hand to cup the girl's cheek, her thumb brushing over the whisker-like marks. "It's like I've been watching you your whole life," the woman murmured, "and the minute I looked away, you became a little woman." Her eyes flickered to the familiar blue shade, and let a bittersweet smile cross her face. "Why did you have to grow up?"

"The same reason everyone else does," Naruko responded quietly with a bemused smile. As the silence befell them, the younger blonde shifted her head until she could feel the comforting beat of her mother's heart behind her skull. Her mother hummed, wrapping her arms around the new adolescent.

"Okaa-san... how are you holding up? Really?"

Yugito paused. "I... I don't know," she admitted reluctantly. As her daughter grew up, Yugito had always made it a point to Naruko that there were to be no secrets and lies between them. But for that to hold true, she would have to do the same on her end. That was perhaps the only reason she was telling Naruko this; because it was how she raised her, and it would be plain hypocritical of her if she didn't. And not to mention a stabbing reminder as to how much could change between then and now. If it were anyone else, she probably would've lied and even kicked them out of her apartment by now. But this wasn't just "anyone else".

Naruko only hummed understandingly. "Try to explain?"

Yugito sighed, but acquiesced. "In the beginning I was worried about you. Of course, I was also worried about Gaara and Fuu, but they came to us at a young age and had at least some idea of the village they came from. But you... you came to us as a newborn. You were raised in the Base knowing nothing of the world outside those walls. I had no idea how you would make your life there, and we had no way of contacting each other. I didn't even realize how much of an impact all of you had on my life, and how much time I spent there. By the end of the first week, I realized that because I spent so much time at the Base with you all, I had no one here at Kumo except for Killer Bee, but he is the Raikage's younger brother, and as such he has many people to be with. So, with nothing else to do, I threw myself into training."

"You know, I kind of did the same thing," Naruko admitted, titling her head back to smile up at the Kumo nin. "During the first few months of living in Konoha, I had Kurama teach me taijutsu and ninjutsu. I had no interest in genjutsu, and quite frankly I still don't. Anyway, by the time the Academy's graduation exam rolled around, he estimated me to be between mid-Genin and low-Chuunin level. But," Naruko's voice softened, "the difference between you and me is that I let people care for me, who I cared for in return. They made sure I rested enough, ate enough, slept enough... and when I received my Genin team, I became friends with those in my generation."

"I'm happy for you," Yugito responded with something akin to pride, brought on by her maternal instincts that never really went away. "But forgive me if I don't quite see what your point is."

Naruko twisted around to look her mother in the eye. "My point is: it's okay to take a break every once in a while. You were right; I found adapting to Konoha to be hard at first. But I eventually learned to love it. I have real friends I can count on, and I'm discovering new things and living new adventures every day. I miss you every single day, but in some ways, I'm kind of grateful we split up. I could grow better than I ever could under the shelter of the JA Base." She gave a half-smile, "There are some things you just have to learn on your own."

Yugito leaned forward to press her forehead against her child's, a small smile curving her lips. "I know. And I want you to know that I'm proud of you. Every day, your strength astounds me. And if you continue the way you are, I know that one day, without a doubt, you will grow to be better. Better than us all."

Naruko smiled at the familiar line. "I love you, okaa-san."

Yugito was quiet for a moment, seemingly searching for something in the blue depths. When she finally spoke, it wasn't what Naruko was expecting at all.

"What if I don't deserve your love?"

The blonde blinked. "Why wouldn't you?"

' _Because I was given a mission to kill a man. And his child... his child was no older than you when you lost Blue B, and her eyes were so, so blue. I orphaned a child, who looked just like you_.'

When Yugito didn't respond, Naruko sighed and her arms wove around to hug her mother. "Even if you didn't, you still have it. You always did, even when you didn't know it. Unconditionally, by my own choice."

Yugito embraced the girl tightly, burying her face in the blonde hair and letting the smell of the sun overwhelm her senses. "I love you too, _musume_." **(2)**

Mother and daughter stayed like that for a while, and Naruko mused at how stars lit the sky like snowflakes in the night, yet appeared still, like an old photograph. She knew that, were she out there in space riding the limits of the known universe, they would be a choreographed blizzard. How the stars would move, the galaxies tumble and dart... but for now, as she observed the vast night sky, warmly ensconced in her mother's familiar arms, the starlight kept its familiar pattern. The constellations, who'd witnessed centuries and millennia just the same, watched over this precious, tiny moment.

"I have to go," Naruko said at last, regret clear in her eyes.

Her mother only smiled, a little sadly, but overall the only emotion Naruko could see in her eyes was the overwhelming love and affection. "I understand. Thank you... for coming to talk to me."

The whiskered girl shook her head with a smile. "You don't need to thank me, okaa-san. I cherish every moment we had, and every moment we will have. Because if these past few days were any indication, we jinchuuriki will always find our way to each other again. Our bonds are too strong to be broken by mere time and distance alone."

Yugito smiled in agreement. "Alright... and I'll try to keep your words in mind. I'll take a break every now and then."

"And let Bee-nii take you to meet his friends," Naruko interjected.

The older woman rolled her eyes fondly, but nonetheless repeated, "And let Bee take me to meet his friends."

"Good," Naruko smiled as she pulled out a paper talisman and started sketching on it.

"Do you _always_ carry those with you?" Yugito asked in slight amusement.

Naruko shrugged. "Well, how else am I getting back without my godfather freaking out on me in the morning?" she reasoned with a mirthful twinkle in her eyes. "To be honest, I haven't had a lot of to play around with seals ever since Team 7 officially began, so this was a fun experiment."

Something in Yugito's chest ached at the mention that her girl didn't play around with fūinjutsu anymore. She quickly brushed it away; she was a full-fledged shinobi now. It only made sense that she would be busy with missions. And the Chuunin Exams, as well. It seemed she was doing rather well under Konoha's care.

Naruko narrowed her eyes at the seal and huffed. "This is going to be annoying." She stood up and gave her mother one last hug. "Bye, okaa-san. See you soon."

Yugito hummed, pressing a kiss to her daughter's temple. She waited for a moment as a trickle of chakra pulsed, and then disappeared.

"I hate Boss for making me do this twice," the girl in her arms muttered under her breath before popping out of existence.

Yugito smiled slightly to herself, wrapping the blanket tighter around her. It felt lonely, now that she was left alone after having just seen, talked with, and held her daughter. Her dark eyes rose to the star-filled sky. It held a lot memories, sure... but they were good ones. Beautiful ones that she treasured and held close to her heart. Maybe she would start looking at them again, instead of avoiding them. After all, as she had told Gaara once, stars were constant, no matter who was looking up at them or what the world was going through. While they weren't always visible, they were still there.

 _Constant as the stars above, always know that you are loved._

The kunoichi smiled a little to herself as she slipped through her window, folding up the spare blanket before sliding into bed for an early night. Maybe tomorrow she would see what Killer Bee was up to. Who did he hang out with again?

 **"Omoi, Karui, Darui, and the siblings Samui and Atsui."**

Yugito blinked. ' _Oh... hey Matatabi._ '

 **"Hello Yugito. Long time no speak,"** the cat said in faint amusement. **"I see someone finally managed to knock some sense into that stubborn bull-head of yours."**

' _I am_ not _bull-headed!'_ Yugito spluttered indignantly.

 **"Oh, I'm sorry,"** Matatabi answered sarcastically, **"that _proud_ heart of yours."**

' _Matatabi..._ '

 **"Alright, alright. Anyway; I think you'll get on well with Samui. She's mature, calm, and generally silent, only speaking when needed."**

' _Hmm_ ,' Yugito hummed. ' _Maybe. But first: when did you develop a sense of sarcasm?'_

 **"That's for me to know and you to... ignore."**

Yugito snorted. Maybe it _would_ be good for her to take a break every now and then. And who knows; maybe this Samui-girl would be tolerable. She certainly didn't sound like an annoying prat.

* * *

 **OMAKE 1: Needles:**

"Gaara?" Temari cautiously stepped towards her redheaded brother, who shifted to look at her. While he remained silent, he tilted his head curiously at her, an unspoken question in his pale green eyes. Temari would've missed it if she hadn't been the one of the very few people in the whole of Suna who could calm Gaara without resorting to violence. "Are you... alright?" Her teal eyes strayed to the bleeding gash on his shoulder.

"He'll be fine."

Temari looked over to see the whiskered blonde Konoha Genin coming towards them, pushing a thread through the eye of the needle she was holding.

"Oh, hell no!" Gaara suddenly exclaimed as he started to back away from Naruko.

The blonde looked at the thin, pointy object in her hands that was connected to a string, and then at her brother before exasperation crossed her face. "No, Gaara, you cannot _still_ be afraid of needles!"

"I can, and I am!" Gaara exclaimed defiantly, warily eyeing the metal in her hands. "For all I know you might sew my shirt to my skin again!"

Naruko's hands dropped down as she groaned. "Oh come _on_ , Gaara, do I look even _remotely_ like Fuu?"

"Hey!" the Taki kunoichi exclaimed indignantly. "In my defense, I was trying to fix a large cut on his arm in the dark, and his shirt was black!"

Gaara shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself and looking visibly traumatized. "Neither of you are coming near me with that... that... _thing!"_ He looked over at Yagura and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Who stitched that up for you?"

Yagura blinked at him for a moment before realizing he was talking about the long stitch on his face. "Uh..." he screwed up his face, "M-Mei Terumi, I think. I was more than a little out of it for a while after receiving the injury."

Utakata held his hands up, palms facing Gaara, with an apologetic smile. "Sorry little bro, don't know how to sew."

Gaara deadpanned at Bee, "You may be a good swordsman, but you're one with skills that are certifiably insane, so you are not coming near me with anything _remotely_ pointy."

Killer Bee shrugged with a grin. "Fair enough."

Fuu didn't even bother to hide her snickers; Gaara was referring to Killer Bee's original Acrobat kenjutsu technique — it never failed to make Yugito facepalm and mutter something about Uzumaki kenjutsu masters under her breath while Han sighed in utter resignation, and the less mature members of their makeshift family would fall over laughing the moment that particular technique made its appearance. Fuu vividly remembered the first time Bee had used it — Yagura and Killer Bee had been sparring, and the moment Yagura pulled out his staff, Bee had pulled out his seven swords. The then-future Mizukage had tried in vain to keep his composure but failed miserably as he doubled over laughing until his torso ached. Bee had just continued grinning at the boy, still holding his swords in their position. And it just so happened that the entire family had been at the Base that day, and came out to investigate Yagura's loud racket.

Naruko sighed. "We need okaa-san..." She glared at Gaara and put her hands on her hips. "It's just a little stitch! I promise I'll be careful."

Gaara started to back away, shaking his head violently. "Not while this damn shirt is on me, you won't!"

"Then _strip_ ," Fuu snickered.

Gaara instantly looked scandalized while Naruko whacked her sister's head upside down... but she was grinning.

* * *

 **OMAKE 2: Move to Suna:**

Yugao Uzuki looked up in surprise when she saw three Suna Genin waiting by the K.I.A Stone. A bouquet of white lilies were in her arms, and she gripped them tightly as she silently continued to the stone. She hesitated; the redheaded boy was around her sister's age. "Are you... are you lost?" she asked carefully.

The blonde girl looked at her. "No," she said after a moment. "We are waiting for our sensei. He told us to meet him here so he could pay his respects to his friend before we left."

Yugao nodded, and moved past them without another word and knelt before the stone.

"Friend or family?"

The ANBU looked up to see it was the redheaded Genin who had spoken. Yugao tried to smile at him, but was sure she failed. "Lover," she said instead.

"Ah," the boy nodded once. "Is it better to have loved and lost, or to have not loved at all?" His pale eyes hid nothing, showing that he was genuinely curious.

Yugao thought about it for a moment. She supposed he was asking her because it seemed to be a common question among recent grievers. But she was a kunoichi and a member of the ANBU Black Ops, and death wasn't anything new. But when it came to someone she had held so close to her heart... it wasn't even a choice.

"It is better to have loved and lost," she said quietly. "To have not loved at all would be a sad life. I doubt anyone would want to live that kind of existence."

The redhead's eyes instantly averted from hers as he stared into the distance. The other boy and the girl looked a little uncomfortable. Yugao frowned a little, but let it slip.

"There he is," the brunette boy said, sounding somewhat relieved. "Hey, Baki-sensei! Over here!"

Yugao turned to see the Suna Jonin, and instantly froze.

"—as much as I've had fun sparring with you every day, I can't just move to Suna," the brunette Konoha Tokubetsu Jonin beside the Suna shinobi was saying with a smile on his face. "I have my whole life here. I have... I have a sister."

Baki shrugged. "Take her with you."

Hayate Gekkō lifted up his bandanna-like hitai-ate and ran a hand through his hair. "I have a long-time girlfriend."

"Take her, too."

"She's in ANBU," the Konoha Jonin from Baki's other side deadpanned, as if that would be enough to reject his new friend's reasoning. "And remind me why you're trying to get him to move to Suna?"

"Transfer to _Suna's_ ANBU Black Ops," Baki rebutted before answering the question, "This is what happens when you live an entire month in isolation with only each other — you grow attached."

"Then why don't _you_ move to Konoha?" Genma demanded.

Baki lifted his hand to tick off the reasons, "I'm the sensei of the Kazekage's children, a member of the advisory council, and in light of the Yondaime Kazekage's death, there is a possibility I will be instated as his children's guardian."

Genma looked away and chomped down hard on his senbon, obviously put-out. Hayate looked over at Baki, biting his lip to keep from laughing. "Baki, all my friends are here. People I've grown up with and fought beside."

"So?" Baki gestured to himself. "You got me. Who else do you need?"

This time, Hayate did burst out laughing. "Um, I've sworn my loyalty to protect Konoha."

Baki waved his hand dismissively. "Suna and Konoha are allies, so if you protect Suna, you also protect Konoha... indirectly."

Hayate bit his lip again as he fought the amused smile. "Paperwork?" he asked. Baki went silent, and the Jonin smirked. "How high?" The Suna shinobi sighed and put his hand to knee-height. It didn't take long for Genma to crack, and the other two men started laughing as well. "Sorry, but that's a deal-breaker," Hayate chuckled, shaking his head.

"Always is," Baki sighed, shaking his head with a rueful smile.

"You know what's a deal-breaker?" Genma piped up unhelpfully. "Creating a blood clone to let everyone think you died, and then stay hidden for an entire month. But then again, that's your specialty, isn't it?"

Hayate looked at him. "That is an insult and I will not stand for it."

"But you don't deny it," Genma grinned.

The Tokubetsu Jonin narrowed his eyes. "I resent this accusation."

"But you don't deny it," Genma repeated with the impish smirk that Hayate knew all too well — it was often on his little sister-figure's whiskered face.

Hayate turned to Baki. "Give me the transfer paperwork."

Baki's visible eyebrow rose as amusement tinged his features. "You sure? It's _knee-high._ "

"Anything to get away from _him_ ," Hayate jabbed his thumb at Genma, who had the audacity to look hurt.

The Suna Jonin grinned. "I knew you'd come around at some point."

* * *

 **(1) Like the hug Chien Po gave the entire group in Mulan II**

 **(2) Musume: Daughter**


	16. Reality: A Mere Illusion

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

 _"While_ you _may be able to manage against him, I couldn't possibly... he's in a completely different league."_

 _"Yes. If we go at each other, we'll either both be killed or, at best, kill each other simultaneously. Even if we increased the numbers, that wouldn't change."_

 _"I didn't expect the kid's guard would be a Legendary Sannin. With him as the opponent... the names of Konoha's Uchiha clan and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist would be tarnished."_

 _"Yes. However, any strong one has a weakness..."_

* * *

 **[ KONOHA ]**

Asuma leaned against a desk, his signature cigarette missing from his profile. Brown eyes full of concern were fixed on the prone figure lying in bed. Asuma glanced to his left; Gai was sitting on a stool he had dragged in from the living room, his face unusually serious. By the foot of the bed, Kurenai stood with a contemplative look on her face. Asuma glanced over at the shelf just above Kakashi's face that held two photo frames — one of his old Genin team, and one of his current one. The Sarutobi exhaled through his nose, lingering on Naruko's smiling face.

"It appears they haven't found Naruko yet," Gai said at last, breaking the oppressive silence. "We can at least be thankful for that."

Asuma sighed again, hefting himself up to sit on the desk, his right foot propped up on the stool. "Don't you think that's strange?" He reached into his vest and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, the same one that Naruko had given him during the Chuunin Exam preliminaries. He paused at the sight of it, before poking out a cigarette. "Those guys had already infiltrated the village. It should be easy to find Naruko..." Asuma poked the cigarette back into the pack; it felt wrong, not having Kakashi scold him for smoking in his apartment. "And Itachi knows her face—"

"Shh!" Gai suddenly hissed, his eyes narrowed at the doorway. Just as his finger left his lips, the bedroom door opened and Sasuke Uchiha walked in.

"Kakashi—" He stopped abruptly, taking in the three Jonin situated around the room, and then his sensei who was lying unconscious in his bed. "Why is Kakashi sleeping?" he asked at last as he walked further into the room. "What happened?"

"Nothing... in particular..." Gai answered as casually as possible.

Of course, the futile attempt at covering up the truth was instantly blown when Aoba Yamashiro unexpectedly burst into the room, shouting, "Is it true that Itachi Uchiha has returned? And that he's after Naruko?" Aoba blinked when he saw Gai facepalm with an exasperated groan, and finally registered the presence of the youngest Uchiha as Sasuke turned to face him. "Oh..."

"Aoba, you _idiot_ ," Kurenai sighed.

Sasuke's eyes widened. ' _Itachi's back... and he's after... oh_ hell _no_.' The Genin instantly pushed past Aoba as he ran out, vaguely noting Gai's annoyed shout of, "Why does this always happen?" He ignored it, though, as he rushed through the village. ' _So he's back after all this time, but only because he's pursuing Naruko?'_ Sasuke's eye twitched. ' _That sounded wrong_.' He quickly shook his head. ' _Dammit, that fox-girl is rubbing off on me. Back on track — why? What does it mean?'_

Naruko wasn't at Kakashi's apartment, that much was clear by her absence. He wasn't exactly sure how their relationship worked, but Sasuke saw enough to know that both Genin and Jonin had a strong bond, considering each other the sibling they never had. There was no way Naruko wouldn't be at her brother's bedside if he was incapacitated, unless she didn't know. Changing course, he directed himself to Sakura's house, landing on her bedroom balcony.

The pinkette was sprawled on her bed, reading a book on combat-orientated medic nin. But at his quickly approaching chakra signature, Sakura looked up and instantly hurried over to open her window. "Sasuke?" she asked worriedly as he landed before her, anxiety welling up in her at the previously-unseen sense of urgency radiating from him.

"Where's Naruko?" he demanded instantly. "Is she with you?"

"No—"

That was all Sasuke heard before he was off again. ' _If Naruko is caught by_ him, _that'll spell her end... I'm not going to let him do that. I refuse to lose anyone precious to me right in front of my eyes. Not again_.' He skidded to a stop in front of Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. "Hey, Old Man! Naruko must've come here. Do you know where she went after that?"

"Oh, Naruko, right..." Teuchi placed a hand on his chin. "If I remember correctly, Jiraiya-sama came here around noon and... they ate ramen together, and he said he was going somewhere..."

"Where?" Sasuke demanded, too desperate to even think about how rude he probably appeared to be.

"Hmm... I think he said to a post station some distance from the village," Teuchi recalled. "She left to say goodbye to those foreign ninja friends of hers, and then Jiraiya-sama also left, saying he had to go pick Naruko up for their little trip."

"Jiraiya?" Sasuke repeated, his brow furrowing a little at the unfamiliar name.

Teuchi grinned. "Jiraiya — one of the three Legendary Sannin. Well, in appearance, he just looks like a big white-haired man."

"Big... and white-haired..." Sasuke repeated to himself, before turning and rushing to the Gates and the forest beyond. Now he had a vague destination and a description of who to look for, he wasn't stopping for anything.

* * *

 **[ OTAFUKU GAI ]**

"Naruko!" The blonde glanced over at her godfather, tilting her head inquiringly. "We're staying here tonight."

She sighed a little and obediently walked over to her godfather. "I can still walk, you know," she informed him. Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively, his eyes already caught on something behind her. Turning, Naruko corrected herself with a some _one_.

"Naruko," Jiraiya said with restrained-giddiness, "here's the key to our hotel room. Go ahead of me and practice chakra control, train or something, and go to sleep. Got it?"

"Oi!" Naruko snapped as her pervert of a godfather walked out of the hotel reception with the dark-haired woman on his arm. She sighed; some things never changed. At least he wasn't like that _all_ the time, like when he was on the road with her earlier that day. Small mercies. "Well, I guess I could start working on Neji's seal..."

Naruko made her way up to the hotel room and opened the door. It small and simple, with two beds pressed against the right wall and a single window on the far wall with two green curtains. There was a heater and a lamp beside each bed. Naruko tossed Jiraiya's pack to a far corner and ventured over to sit on the bed closest to the window. Leaning against the surprisingly-fluffy pillows and unsealed her sketchpad, propping it up on her raised knees. She carefully unfolded a talisman that bore the Caged Bird Seal, tacking it on the upper right corner for reference. Then she began to sketch.

The only sound in the hotel room was the scratching of her pencil against the paper... and the consistent humming of one very bored demon fox. As Kurama's humming grew louder and louder, Naruko finally snapped. ' _Kurama, before you get_ another _random song stuck in my head for the_ zillionth _time, would you like to_ at least _tell me what it's called?'_

 **"Uh,"** Kurama began sheepishly, **"I don't actually know."**

Naruko closed her eyes and counted to ten. ' _Really, now? Because it sounded_ very _familiar._ '

 **"Sorry, I genuinely do not know."**

' _Perfect. Now it's stuck in my head, and I have no lyrics to go with it. Thanks a lot, fuzzball_.'

 **"Then take a break,"** Kurama suggested. **"You've been working on that thing for thirty to forty minutes. And you got so frustrated that you ended up making more of your original seals just so you could get "some space between perspectives". And didn't that sister of yours, Mio, always tell you to relax and do something you love?"**

' _I like fūinjutsu..._ '

Kurama snorted. **"Not when it gets you this frustrated, you don't."**

Naruko sighed; he had a point. She had only gotten a third of the way to the removal method, and now she was just waiting for an epiphany to strike. Usually when she became stuck in a rut, if she waited it out long enough there would be something random that would come along and spark an idea. Usually, that "something random" was a conversation or argument with her triplets, but unfortunately they were on the other side of the world. Naruko smiled at the mere thought of the strange conversations that birthed a majority of her original seals.

The girl sighed and resealed her fūinjutsu sketchpad and took out her burgundy leather wrap-around journal that simultaneously served as a diary, a songbook and a scrapbook. ' _I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but hum the melody again..._ '

 **"Gladly."**

Kurama's humming started up again, and this time Naruko's pencil moved in tandem with the unnamed melody. ' _Damn, all the latest songs are turning out so dark_ ,' Naruko mused with a light chuckle. ' _Either I need to stop hanging around a certain emo-duckbutt so much or I'm just getting mature... or something like that._ '

Kurama chose not to comment — a wise decision on his part. Instead his crimson-red eyes roved over the lyrics his jinchuuriki had written, mentally fitting them to the random melody he had conjured up in his quest to annoy Naruko into doing something more interesting than creating a seal removal method. Because sure, it was nice that she was doing something nice for someone she didn't know very well, and could potentially revolutionize one of the most influential clans in Konoha, but he was bored. And besides, no regrets — the results were beautiful, if a little sad.

 **(1)** _Summer in the hills, those hazy days I do remember,_

 _We were running still, had the whole world at our feet._

 _Watching seasons change, our roads were lined with adventure_

 _Mountains in the way couldn't keep us from the sea._

 _Here we stand open arms, this is home where we are,_

 _Ever strong in the world that we made._

 _I still hear you in the breeze, see your shadows in the trees,_

 _Holding on, memories never change._

Naruko was about to say something to her tenant when a knock sounded on the door. Her head jerked up, surprised that Jiraiya was back so early. "Did she dump you already?" she called out in an amused voice, setting down her songbook. Insistent knocking was her only answer. "Okay, okay," she laughed, walking over to the door. "I'll open up."

 **"Kit, that's not Jiraiya out there."**

' _I know_ ,' Naruko answered. ' _I realized that_ after _I asked if Pervy Sage got dumped, but it'd be too suspicious if I suddenly went silent_.'

 **"His chakra signature feels similar to Sasuke's, but it's... different..."** Kurama trailed off, but there was an edge to his tone that Naruko didn't really like.

With her left hand, Naruko jiggled the doorknob in a show of unlocking the door while she bit her right thumb, summoning Gamakichi. She instantly put a finger to her lips before the orange toad could give her his usual exuberant greeting, and unsealed her sketchpad to tear off a page, scribbling down instructions for Gamakichi and a message for Jiraiya. She handed it to the toad summon, who read it quietly, gave her nod and hopped over to the window and out. Naruko took a deep breath; hopefully Jiraiya would be back before anything too bad happened. Hopefully it'd just be room service or something, and she was getting nervous over nothing. But very rarely did her gut feelings fail her.

Opening the door just enough for a young child's body to slip through, Naruko's eyes widened when she saw a fairly tall man with black hair pulled into a low ponytail and chin-length bangs framing his face. His most prominent facial feature was the long, pronounced tear-troughs... if you were to ignore the blazing red eyes of the Sharingan, that is.

Naruko involuntarily took a step back, her unexpected visitor's name falling from her lips before she even realized. "Itachi Uchiha..."

"Shall we go outside?" his calm voice inquired, though there was a threatening undertone.

Naruko narrowed her eyes but slowly stepped out of the room. It would be unwise to antagonize him. He was an S-rank missing nin, after all... if he could slaughter his clan, what would stop him from killing her? After all, they barely knew each other. But there was a reason Itachi Uchiha had come here to her hotel room, and she doubted it was for a friendly meet-and-greet.

She noticed, standing behind Itachi, was a taller man with shark-like features — he had pale blue skin and darker blue hair. Three gill-like markings curved under his eyes, and he had a bandage-bound package on his back that reminded Naruko of Kankuro's puppet, though it was probably closer to Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribōchō, in terms of size. His hitai-ate bore the symbol of Kiri and, like Itachi's hitai-ate, had a deep line marring the village symbol, marking him as a missing nin. But what really caught her attention was that both men were wearing long black cloaks with red clouds on it.

Naruko's stomach dropped to the core of the Earth.

 _Akatsuki_.

"Itachi, it'll be a pain in the neck if this kid moves around... maybe I better chop off a leg just in case," the shark-like man was commenting, his hand moving back to grip his sword's handle.

' _Oh_.' Naruko blinked. ' _So_ this _is the Kisame Hoshigaki Zabuza-sensei told me about when he was lecturing about the range of kenjutsu styles and their suitable swords. And that means the thing on his back must be his sentient sword, Samehada_.'

 **"Don't forget,"** Kurama added, **"he's the one Roshi referred to as a "Tailed Beast Without A Tail". Yagura and Utakata had him listed as a potential defect to the Akatsuki. Looks like it's one of those instances where I find it unfortunate they were spot-on..."**

' _Oh,_ hell,' Naruko internally sighed. ' _What am I supposed to do? As much as I would like to keep all my limbs on me, there's no way I could possibly last in combat against two S-rank missing nin. I doubt I could last long against just_ one _of them, unless I knew how to enter Bijuu Mode or something. They're way out of my league... to go against them with no backup would be suicide._'

 **"Good to know your impulsive battle instincts aren't winning this time around."**

' _I have more brain than_ that.'

 **"Well, usually I could just put a high-level genjutsu on them, but that's _Itachi Uchiha_. So, you know... nah."**

' _Every single one of your brain cells would have to self-combust or you would have to be panicking pretty badly for anyone to even_ think _of trying such a pointless tactic_ ,' Naruko deadpanned.

"Now then..." Kisame advanced ominously towards Naruko, his beady white eyes gleaming with sadistic intent. Despite needing to tilt her head all the way back just to look the swordsman in the eye, Naruko held his gaze steadily, feeling much calmer than she should be, considering the current circumstances.

But then Itachi's monotone voice stopped his partner; "Long time no see... Sasuke."

Naruko glanced between the two men, her eyes landing on her dark-haired teammate, who was standing at the top of the stairs at the wall's corner. His eyes were shadowed by his bangs, and she felt her heartrate involuntarily pick up. What was he doing here? But more importantly, she was worried about how this reunion — if it could even be called one — would go down. She had done her best to make Sasuke see reason, but that run-in with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death appeared to have reverted him back to his old ways. And now that Itachi was standing right here in front of him... she had no idea what would he do.

"Itachi Uchiha," Sasuke bit out venomously, raising his head enough to showcase his activated Sharingan, combined with a murderous glare aimed at his brother.

"Huh... Sharingan," Kisame observed with a toothy grin. "And moreover, he resembles you a lot, Itachi. Who the heck is he?"

"He's my younger brother," Itachi stated, seemingly unaffected by said boy's presence. He hadn't even turned to look at him, instead keeping his crimson eyes trained solely on Naruko.

"But I heard that the entire Uchiha clan had been murdered," Kisame mused with an air of fake nonchalance, "by _you_."

"Get _away_ from her, Itachi."

At last, the elder Uchiha turned to face Sasuke. He maintained his cool indifference, staring at his younger brother with an edge of almost-boredom. "Oh? Tell me, Sasuke... is she important to you?"

Sasuke's lips pulled back into a snarl as an electric-blue light suddenly flared around his hand as a loud chirping sound filling the corridor. "I'd rather not waste my breath explaining the meaning of precious people to someone like _you_."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Chidori...?"

Sasuke lunged forward and ran straight at Itachi, who didn't even indicate he was thinking of moving to avoid the oncoming attack. The second Sasuke was in range, Itachi's hand shot out to catch the younger boy's wrist, stopping him in his tracks and dissipating the jutsu. But the most surprising thing was that Sasuke let it. Naruko knew that, if he wanted to, he could've kept the Chidori going for much longer... but Sasuke's eyes had died back down to his usual onyx, and a light smirk curved his lip — the soft, playful kind of half-smile edged with characteristic Uchiha-smugness that only three people had the privilege of seeing — Sasuke's sensei and his two Genin teammates. Naruko's eyebrow rose; she felt like she could practically _touch_ the aura of confusion surrounding Itachi.

"I admit it was dumb to attack you head-on, but if I did anything else I doubted I'd be able to get close enough to actually talk with you," Sasuke said calmly, wrenching his wrist free from Itachi's grip as the revelation led to the momentary slackening. Rubbing it slightly, Sasuke looked back up at his brother. "I'm not here to kill you. I'm here for answers... answers that only you can give me."

Naruko breathed a soft sigh of relief. Itachi, however, gave a slow blink. Which, in Uchiha-body-language, meant complete and utter bewilderment. "Answers...?"

The younger Uchiha gave a curt nod. "Answers," he confirmed. "I want the truth, Itachi. I want to know what really happened that night."

"What happened that night?" Itachi repeated with a slight edge of uncertainty, but then his facial features quickly schooled themselves back into cold indifference. "I told you, didn't I? The night I slaughtered our family, I told you the truth. It's just a matter of whether you want to believe it or not."

"I believe that you killed them," Sasuke shot back. "But what I _don't_ believe is the _reason_ you gave me. Every memory I ever had of you before that night... you were _kind_. You _cared_ , maybe more than a shinobi should. You never got angry at me for anything, and you tried to make time for me. I don't believe that the brother I remember would kill our family just to "test his strength"."

"One man's illusion is another man's reality," Itachi warned. "Stop deluding yourself, Sasuke. I had no other reason, no other motives, beside what I told you."

Sasuke frowned slightly, his eyes flickering over to Naruko. Her eyes were narrowed at Itachi, but she glanced over at him and gave him a nod. _He's hiding something._

Suspicions confirmed, Sasuke returned to reasoning with his rogue brother. "No, you do. Or, at the very least, you _did_."

"And you think you can find the answers you seek by asking me?"

"Who else would I ask? If you had to do something as drastic as wipe out one of the biggest and most powerful clans in Konoha, I don't doubt the reason behind it is S-classed information, or higher. The Hokage most certainly wouldn't tell me, to say nothing of the council."

Itachi's eyes suddenly hardened. "Do not trust the council," he said sharply.

Sasuke blinked, and then smirked smugly. "So, I was right, then?"

Itachi quickly backtracked. "I merely gave you advice, from what I learnt when I was still loyal to Konoha. The council will give you grief, as they gave me and countless others due to their biased and old-fashioned ways." His gaze rested on Naruko for a moment before returning to Sasuke. "I cannot give you these answers you seek. The only way you will ever discover the reality you wish to know is if you kill me. That is the only way, Sasuke."

"Forgive me if I fail to understand how I will discover the truth if I kill the one person who knows it," Sasuke deadpanned. "Your logic appears to have taken a solid hit over the past six years, Itachi."

The elder Uchiha closed his eyes in what seemed like annoyance — it was hard to tell with half his face obscured by the high collar of the cloak he wore — and then spoke in a tightly-controlled voice. "If you do not wish to kill me, then why are you here, Sasuke?"

"Were you not listening to me at all?" Sasuke demanded, before sighing resignedly. "You haven't changed... I half-expect you to poke me in the forehead with your signature, " _Forgive me Sasuke, maybe next time_ "."

Itachi tilted his head slightly. "Do you not hate me for what I have done to you? To our family?"

"Oh don't get me wrong," Sasuke snorted, "I hate you, alright. I don't understand how you could do that to our family... to our mother, to our father, our aunts and uncles and our baby cousins. I don't understand, and that's the only reason I'm standing here without the intention of spilling your blood. I need to know, Itachi... why did you kill them? Why did you kill our family?"

"To test—"

"Don't give me that bullsh-t!" Sasuke suddenly barked, frustration sweeping across his face. "I know, and _you_ know, that's a lie!"

"If you come after me with hatred... with the intent to kill... then perhaps you will find out the truth for yourself along the way," Itachi said carefully. "Walk the path of the avenger. That is your destiny, as it was mine to slaughter our clan as a milestone to increase my strength."

Sasuke snarled. "Destiny can go to _hell_ for all I care. That's the Hyuuga's thing. You know, Itachi, ever since that night, I _did_ walk the path of the avenger. For the longest time. But I didn't realize how much it cost me until now." His eyes flickered to Naruko, and then back at his brother. "I've managed to gain it all back within two years, and I'm _not_ willing to lose _any_ of it just so you can get some sort of... twisted, self-imposed justice through me! And you know what else I realized? I'm done listening to someone who's _too cowardly to tell me the damned f-ing truth!"_

Itachi was silent. But there was the minute furrowing of his brow that indicated his confusion at his baby brother's actions. When had Sasuke gotten to read him so well? He'd done his mission, though he hated every second of it. And as punishment, he would die by the brother that was all that remained of their clan... because after all, why should he call himself an Uchiha?

"I... I don't want to kill you, Itachi. I don't want vengeance anymore. I just..." Sasuke's hands clenched into fists as his Sharingan subconsciously activated again. "I just want the _truth_ , dammit! Is that really too much to ask? After all these years, it's the least you owe me! I don't care if you are loyal to some mercenary group, or that you're a missing nin, or if you've made some brand-new life for yourself. I don't _care_ , Itachi. Just give me the truth, and we can go our separate ways. I'll leave you to your cult, and you leave my village alone."

"It's not a cult, damned gaki," Kisame muttered under his breath.

Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly. "Right now I have no interest in you... you may have the same eyes as I do, but your hatred has diminished significantly. You are weak, but only because you do not have enough hate." In one swift movement, too fast to be seen, Sasuke was suddenly pinned against the wall, held in place with Itachi's arm pressed against his collarbone. Leaning in, Itachi placed his mouth by the boy's ear, lowering his voice. "I cannot speak openly of the truth with Kisame here. I can only show you, but be warned, there is only one way and it is not entirely safe. I will not do it if you do not wish to see. I will leave a message with Naruko for when you awaken, if you choose to do so."

"You bastard," Sasuke hissed, "just _tell me what I want to know_ , damn you!"

Itachi leaned back at the disguised confirmation, and placed Sasuke in a Tsukuyomi of his own design. When Sasuke's violent twitching finally ceased completely, Itachi dropped him to the ground and turned to Naruko, who had her brow furrowed in concern. But it seemed that, with one look into his eyes, understanding dawned on her.

Before any of the three could speak or move, however, a sticky pink-coloured substance started to grow on the walls, floor and ceiling, trapping them in the corridor. "Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind," a deep, familiar voice called, and all heads turned to see a white-haired male crouching on the floor with both his palms splayed out on the ground. "How unfortunate... Itachi, Kisame," Jiraiya commented with a slight smirk. "You guys are already inside my stomach — I summoned the esophagus of a giant toad from the Mt. Myōboku rock cave."

"Oh... _gross_..." Naruko wrinkled her nose slightly as her sandal-covered foot slowly sank into the sticky, warm substance.

"You shouldn't use such a cowardly tactic like casting a genjutsu on an attractive woman with your hypnotic eyes to separate me and Naruko." At his abrupt change in tone, Naruko tilted her head back until she could see behind her, and was surprised to see an uncharacteristically grim and almost angry look on her usually-jovial godfather's face. "Your target _is_ Naruko, after all."

' _I suppose "fashionably late" is this year's shinobi motto. Either that, or all white-haired shinobi have an identical penchant for being late._ ' Deciding to take advantage of the Akatsuki members' preoccupation with the large threat known as the Toad Sannin, Naruko slipped as best she could along the wall until she was kneeling beside a prone Sasuke. She gently picked up his wrist and pressed two fingers to it, frowning a little at the somewhat-erratic pulse. ' _He doesn't seem to be in pain or stress or anything, and I can't sense any negative emotions from him. But still... I wish Sakura was here, she's the medic so she'd know what to do_.'

Itachi glanced down at the blonde, but saw that she was not trying to get away or harm the boy. He returned his attention to Jiraiya, and frowned as he remembered Kakashi's words — _"You are after the Nine-Tailed Fox in Naruko."_ Itachi had wondered how Kakashi knew; he should have expected Jiraiya's spy network to know about the Akatsuki's ultimate goal. Though Itachi made no outward indication of it, he was impressed. Aloud, he said, "Now I see — _you_ were the information source." He took Jiraiya's silence as confirmation. "To abduct Naruko is the number one priority placed by our organization, the Akatsuki."

' _Yes, thank you for this absolutely_ world-shaking _revelation that I_ haven't _known about since I was ten_ ,' Naruko thought sarcastically, mentally rolling her eyes. ' _Although, I didn't realize I was number_ one _priority... would've thought I was_ last _priority, if anything. After all, I hold Mr Nine._ ' Absently, Naruko realized she probably should've seemed at least a little bit shocked at Itachi's announcement, but she was currently too drained to even think of acting.

"I can't let you have Naruko," Jiraiya's firm voice said in reply.

"I wonder about that," was all Itachi said, his tone never changing from the cold monotone. He tilted his head down to look at the jinchuuriki, "Naruko Uzumaki," he began, lowering his voice to a volume only her enhanced hearing could pick up, "are you the reason why my foolish little brother decided to deviate from the path I set out for him?"

Naruko gave him a slow nod, not trusting herself to speak.

Itachi stared at her silently for a moment. "Take care of Sasuke for me."

Naruko met his gaze evenly. "Even if you hadn't asked me to, I would've. But all I ask is that you tell Sasuke whatever he wants to know when the time comes, with your own experiences, your own mouth and your own words."

If it hadn't been for the cloak's high collar, Naruko would've seen Itachi's rare, indulgent half-smile. "Of course. But I feel the need to ask... do you know the truth?"

Naruko shook her head. "No, but I do know how older brothers are." She paused. "Sasuke can be stubborn, so I'm warning you, if he's not satisfied with the answer you gave him, he'll chase you down until he gets what he wants."

Itachi tilted his head slightly. "Then wouldn't the warning apply to you, as well?" Naruko blinked in confusion, but before she could ask, Itachi turned to his partner and called, "Come here, Kisame."

The shark-like man obeyed, but was jerked to a halt by his sword being stuck in some goop. His nose wrinkled as he muttered curses under his breath, finally yanking the bandaged blade free as he ran over to the Uchiha.

"It's useless!" Jiraiya barked. "There hasn't been one person who has been able to escape from this jutsu." As he spoke, the two missing nin had rounded the corner, but the esophagus expanded to chase them down.

"A wall of flesh, incoming," Kisame noted with an edge of well-hidden worry as he followed his infuriatingly-calm partner. He stopped to swing Samehada at the tendrils of goop that rushed out to trap them, but took off after Itachi once he saw even more coming. His beady eyes took in the closing flesh. "The wall is faster. At this rate..."

Itachi simply closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his Sharingan had a different pattern.

Jiraiya and Naruko braced themselves at the unexpected tremors, and then suddenly Jiraiya was running past the two Genin. He ignored Naruko's alarmed shout, and skidded around the corner to glare at the opening. Remnants of black fire danced on the edges of the gaping hole that had clearly aided the two missing nin in their escape.

Naruko looked first at her godfather, and then at the flames. Slowly, she ventured forward; she hadn't seen this colour of flames before. What property did it have?

 **"Don't touch it,"** Kurama barked sharply, and Naruko's hand recoiled, as if struck. **"That's one of the Mangekyō Sharingan's jutsu — the Amaterasu. They're said to be the flames of hell and they burn as hot as the sun itself. Once created, it will burn for seven days and seven nights. Nothing and no one but the user can extinguish the flames. This is the highest level of Fire Release."**

' _Is there anything that can block such an attack?'_ Naruko asked curiously.

 **"I suppose Gaara's sand defense should have _some_ degree of imperviousness, as should your Version 1 Chakra Cloak, at the very least."**

Naruko hummed in acknowledgement, and glanced back at Jiraiya when she felt the amount of annoyance, disbelief and underlying rage emanating from him.

' _I can't believe this wall was torn through_.' Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the black flames. ' _The stone toad who has the ability to blow fire had its intestines burned..._ ' He took out a scroll and spread it out on the ground, quickly drawing a seal as Naruko watched in child-like fascination. "Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal!" With one hand on the ground and his other arm protectively in front of Naruko, Jiraiya activated the seal, and the godfather-daughter duo watched as blue chakra wafted out of the scroll and covered the ring of black flames before the chakra returned into the scroll, leaving no trace of the black flames. Naruko tilted her head curiously as a kanji for seal — "封" — appeared to burn itself in the previously-blank space.

Jiraiya snatched the scroll, rolling it up and tying it closed with a thin rope. "Alright, it'll be okay for now," he said aloud as he tucked it into his shirt. "Now, for Sasuke." Jiraiya slammed his foot onto the ground, and the summoned esophagus disappeared at the same time Naruko ran back over to her teammate and crouched beside him. Jiraiya came up to Naruko's side just as a kunai whipped past the girl's head and embedded itself deeply into the wall.

"Dynamic—"

Jiraiya's eyes went wide as he spun around at the familiar holler. " _Gai?"_

"—Entry!" Konoha's Green Beast bellowed as his foot smashed into Jiraiya's cheek, sending him flying backwards. Naruko dropped her head into her palms, shaking her head with a sigh. As she peeked out from her fingers, she saw the maniacal grin on Gai's face drop comically as he finally realized who he had just Dynamic Entry'd.

"Kami, Gai, and you tell _me_ to be less impulsive," Naruko sighed as she stood up and unsealed a tissue from one of her storage scrolls, handing it to Jiraiya who promptly twisted it and stuck it up his bleeding nose.

Gai was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly while Jiraiya's eye twitched in annoyance. "I'm sorry to have kicked you so directly. I was in a rush and I forgot my mirror..." Gai trailed off with another sheepish laugh. "I used the hitai-ate instead, but it was hard to see. And I assumed this rough-hewn face was the enemy, so I let the flames of burning juvenescence take over me. I'm sorry!"

"Is that supposed to be an _apology?"_ Jiraiya demanded, caught between offense and anger.

"Alright, cut it out you two," Naruko intervened. "We need to get Sasuke to a medical team. I'm not detecting any negative emotions from him, but I do know that Itachi put him in some sort of genjutsu, so it would be best to monitor him closely. There's no telling what kind of side effects this may have."

Gai narrowed his eyes. ' _So he also experienced_ that _jutsu..._ '

"It seems Sasuke's experiencing severe mental damage... or at the very least, he's in a very deep genjutsu," Jiraiya analyzed with a deep frown.

"Kakashi has been downed with the same jutsu," Gai informed him.

Naruko's head snapped towards him, her eyes wide. "Kaka-nii? He faced off against Itachi? Is he okay?" She sighed quickly and shook her head at herself, "Of course he's not okay if he's under the same jutsu... but _will_ he be okay?"

Gai grimaced at the pleading look in her eyes. "We don't know when he'll regain consciousness," he admitted at last. "I'm sorry, Naru. I wish there was more information for me to pass on." When Gai looked at Sasuke, he also saw Lee. But Naruko's hurt and confused expression at the sudden revelation of her brother-figure's severe injury while she was out of the village brought him back to when Tenten had dragged Neji to visit Lee between the second and third phase of the Exams. Gai said quietly, "When my students are hurt, I always wish, from the bottom of my heart... if that person, who is a medical specialist, were here..."

Jiraiya glanced over at the Taijutsu Master. "That's why we're going to find her, right now."

"What?" Gai blinked. "You mean... _her?_ Could it be...?"

"Yep, that's right — the healing specialist, Princess of Slugs and Elixirs, a Legendary Sannin and a failed gambler — Princess Tsunade."

Gai smiled to himself. "Well then... I'm counting on you." He leaned down to pick up Sasuke as gently as he could, setting him on his back. "I'll take him back to Konoha, so don't worry about him. And Naruko?" He looked over at the girl, whose ever-expressive eyes told of her unspoken distress. "Kakashi will be fine — Asuma, Kurenai and I will make sure of that. He'll be waiting for you when you come back. So you focus on your mission and learn as much as you can from Jiraiya-sama, alright?"

Naruko nodded, her eyes hardening. "We'll be sure to find Tsunade-sama and we'll bring her to the village as soon as we can. It's a promise."

Gai smiled his signature "Good Guy Smile", and Jiraiya planted his hand on her head with a light affectionate ruffle. As the two men had known both Minato and Kushina, albeit on varying levels, they easily recognized the surfacing components that made up a lethal combination — an Uzumaki's stubbornness and a Namikaze's determination.

* * *

Naruko looked around at the small clearing in the forest that she had claimed as her own private training ground for the hopefully-short duration of their stay in yet another small town. All of her spare time was being swallowed up by fūinjutsu — she alternated between the Caged Bird Seal and the Hiraishin. She had finally started working on her father's other signature jutsu when Jiraiya had surprised the hell out of her by pulling out a small battered navy blue leather book with a specific metal clasp that signified it as Ark Handmade — the books and scrolls from Ark Handmade were created for the purpose of carrying clan jutsu, which meant it was specific to a certain clan or bloodline — and this particular book had been her father's theory journal and depicted his findings and the progression of the Hiraishin's development. Almost every fourth page displayed side-by-side comparisons with the jutsu's predecessor, Tobirama Senju's Hiraishingiri and the evolving Hiraishin.

It was fascinating, watching her father unravel the intricate layers as he pulled it apart, layer by layer, until he reached the base. Then he built it up back up in a modified version to suit his own needs. Seeing as the space-time ninjutsu was user-specific, it meant that Naruko would have to start from square one, just as her father had. Columns of rambling notes littered the sides, some in her father's small handwriting and others in what Jiraiya told her was her mother's "elegant scrawl". Apparently, they had worked together on the Hiraishin since Kushina's clan specialized in fūinjutsu, so she had been a great help in deciphering some of the less-obvious sections of the original technique formula.

Currently, Jiraiya was off in the village somewhere — either gathering intel on Tsunade's location or perving off with attractive women, she really didn't know — and Naruko had summoned Kurama to keep her company. Said Bijuu was the size of a large dog and lying curled up on the lush grass while his jinchuuriki leaned against his side, demoting him to a sort of lounge furniture. And just in case someone should happen to stumble upon them unexpectedly, Kurama had adopted the appearance of one singular tail.

Naruko flipped to a page in her father's journal that depicted a sketch of his special tokuchū kunai, with talismans displaying his final seal formula wrapped around the handle. "So I can probably use the same weapon, but with a different seal formula," Naruko mused aloud. "Maybe I can even use it the same way both Tobirama-sama and otou-san did."

 **"So you plan to use kunai in the way that your father earned his moniker, the Yellow Flash, but you also want to make it so that you can maneuver the seal onto someone with the seal during combat?"** Kurama guessed. **"Hm, to be able to switch between the Hiraishingiri and the Hiraishin whenever you please..."**

"I was thinking something like this," Naruko drew a rough sketch on a blank section of paper. "I would throw several Hiraishin kunai at my opponent and teleport to kick or punch them so they're sent flying back. While they're in the air, a Shadow Clone will repeatedly teleport using the Hiraishin kunai surrounding my opponent, constantly slashing them with the Nietono no Shana, like the Hiraishingiri. And then maybe I'll form a Rasengan or something similar, and the Shadow Clone will catch the opponent, teleport them directly in front of me, and give me the perfect opportunity to land a direct hit with a Rasengan. What do you think?" **(2)**

 **"Sounds effective."** Kurama scanned the sketch with a critical eye. **"But of course, I'd have to see this for myself, first. Who knows how it might end up. And you'd have to make sure all the Hiraishin kunai actually surround your opponent — you know, the usual: not too close and not too far — and that your opponent is in range for your Shadow Clone to attack. But an interesting move... I like. What are you going to name it?"**

"I'm thinking "Hiraishin: Hurricane Flash-Step"."

Kurama sweatdropped. **"That's a long name..."**

Naruko tilted her head to pout up at him. "Well, I was originally going to call it "Hiraishin: Space-Time Hurricane Flash Sequential Steps: Style Zero". If you like that one better—"

 **"No no,"** Kurama said quickly, **" Hiraishin: Hurricane Flash-Step sounds great."** He grimaced internally, **' _Yeah, she_ definitely _took after her father with the extravagant jutsu naming_.'** The Bijuu cleared his throat, **"Once you get the Hiraishin to the point where you can execute it flawlessly, let's try it. Otherwise it might blow up in our faces... _again_."**

Naruko nodded, settling further into the soft fur. Having passed through a town that specialized in weaponry making, Naruko had asked for fifty tokuchū kunai identical to Minato's customized design. It was too troublesome to think up of a new weapon — _in Konoha, lying on a sloping hill and staring at the passing clouds, Shikamaru sneezed_ — and since they worked for Minato, they should theoretically work for her, too. But she would first have to create and test the seal, then the weapon before settling it into her arsenal. If the tokuchū kunai didn't work, it was no big loss and just meant that she'd have to enlist Sakura and Hinata to draw up a customized shuriken or kunai. A small, light weapon that was easily thrown and could be embedded in various surfaces was a good idea...

Thanks to both Kurama and Jiraiya looking out for her and making sure that she didn't walk into anything, Naruko was able to work on her seals while travelling and had progressed further than she expected once she had deciphered Minato's notes — that was the part that took the longest time. But once she had that done, along with the theory behind it supplied by Jiraiya, it was surprisingly easy to piece together a basic template which would allow her to create a signature technique formula of her own. Obviously, due to Minato's continuous use of the Hiraishin, there was no limit to how many targets could be marked with it. The most essential components of the Hiraishin seal were carefully written down in her own journal, and was used multiple times in reference as she set to work creating the "new and improved" Hiraishin.

 _ **Chakra location seal** : keystone of the __Hiraishin_ _; allows the user to hone in on the location of the seal; specifically attuned to the user's chakra_

 _ **[Optional] Chakra signature/detector seal** : only in use when the formula is placed on a person; can allow user to teleport to them_

 _ **Dimension seal** : allows the user to manipulate a specific point of space and enter a dimensional void and instantaneously teleport it to another location marked by the formula_

 _ **Time seal** : used in conjunction with the Dimension seal_

 _ **[Modified] Summoning seal** : Reversed __Hiraishin_ _; allows the user to summon objects or up to three people marked with the formula_

Naruko had added the last seal after realizing that while her father's Hiraishin seal had a feature of allowing those who had the Hiraishin kunai to summon him to them, he himself had no way of summoning them to his side. Since the Hiraishin had quite a few features in common with the Summoning Jutsu, Naruko had decided to modify Minato's addition so the summoning could go both ways. After all, there was always the possibility of a skilled adversary turning her nodachi against her during combat, but if she had the Hiraishin seal on it, she could always just teleport it back to her hand. And it would also be useful to summon Sakura to her side whenever they needed a medic... with the slight chance that anyone ended up being able to convince the surprisingly-protective pinkette to let one of her teammates go on a mission alone sometime in the near-future, that is.

Naruko shook her head with a slight smile; it was rather cliché that such a complex jutsu would turn out to be so incredibly simple, yet ingenious. Of course, maybe that was just the Uzumaki in her speaking. After all, Jiraiya had taken one look at her notes that were derived from Minato's, thrown his hands up in the air and promptly left her to it. Naruko giggled just thinking about her somewhat-eccentric godfather's reaction to her three-quarters-developed base.

The only problem was, now that she had isolated the seal layers that made up the Hiraishin, she had to figure out how to fit them together like a puzzle. Because in the end, that's all seals were — puzzles. It was just her luck that the one with the least pieces would end up having the jagged edges that made putting it all together almost impossible. It was incredibly frustrating, to be so close and yet so far.

"Hey, polliwog!"

Naruko looked up at the nickname, and unconsciously smiled brightly as her godfather came up to her, a double popsicle in his hands.

"Have you been working on that blasted seal the whole day?" Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief as he broke the popsicle and handed half to her.

"Yep," Naruko grinned cheekily up at the Sannin as she accepted the icy treat. "Mmm, it's good," she hummed happily. Her eyes drifted back down to the rough sketch of the Hiraishin seal, and her lips dropped into a light frown. Kakashi would've been helpful in this sort of situation — he loved puzzles just as much as she did. ' _I wonder how Kaka-nii's doing..._ '

"Hey, you know that teammate and brother of yours are going to be fine, right?" Jiraiya said in a low, comforting voice as he sat down beside her, reaching out to absent-mindedly pet Kurama's fur. "We just need to find Tsunade and she'll be able to set them straight."

Naruko looked up at her godfather in surprise; had he read her mind? She offered him a smile. "I know. But I'm still worried..."

"And you have good reason to be," Jiraiya agreed. "Though young, Itachi Uchiha isn't labelled an S-rank missing nin for nothing." There was brief lapse of silence before he spoke again. "The last sightings of Tsunade are in the town over, so we'll probably head over in an hour or two... unless you're up for another trip already?" he guessed at Naruko's skeptical raised eyebrow.

Naruko smirked at him, tossing the stick into a nearby trashcan. "Let's go, Pervy Sage."

"Race?" Jiraiya gave her a wicked grin as he mimicked her actions.

Naruko smirked, "You are _so_ on."

"Alright," Jiraiya planted his hands on his hips once they were standing at the back of the town, "go straight for around twelve kilometres, take a right for another two, and you're there. Got it?"

"Got it," Naruko chirped, feeding her feet a steady trickle of chakra in preparation for takeoff.

"In three... two... o—"

Naruko didn't let him finish as the chakra burst from her feet and she flew forward, the scenery turning into a blur around her. Vaguely, she noted Jiraiya shouting something about cheaters before he started to run as well. A quick glance behind her showed that he was steadily gaining on her, so with a smirk she formed a one-handed Ram sign, dissolving the fūinjutsu weights around her ankles. Naruko really wanted to see how fast she could run without the weights and without increasing the chakra-boost, and what better obstacle to measure up against than a Sannin?

She managed to stay ahead for another kilometre or so, and then Jiraiya came up behind her. "On your left," he called cheekily as he darted past.

Naruko huffed and spurred her legs faster. "Damned Sannin..." Thanks to her unnatural stamina as a jinchuuriki, she managed to catch up to Jiraiya who was tiring after ten to eleven kilometres at a dead sprint.

"Damned jinchuuriki-enhanced stamina," Jiraiya fired back, obviously having heard her mutters when he first passed her. Naruko simply grinned wordlessly at him, keeping pace, man and child neck-and-neck. Though he was tiring, he was still pretty fast, and she was only a Genin. She was probably as fast as Rock Lee when the both of them were without weights and she was without chakra, but the most impressive thing was her ridiculous stamina that allowed her to maintain a fast pace for a considerable amount of time. Otherwise, she would've undoubtedly lost the race the moment it began.

"Damn," Jiraiya huffed, laughing as he stopped to catch his breath the moment he stepped foot into the town. "You're definitely your father's daughter."

Naruko simply smiled at him as she reactivated her weights. "I've been training since I was ten in preparation of using the Hiraishin. There's no use having a space-time ninjutsu if your body isn't fast enough to work attacks into it, now is there?"

Jiraiya merely laughed and reached out to ruffle her hair before straightening up. "Alright, let's take to the rooftops. We might spot Tsunade easier from up there, if she's still here, that is."

"Okay sure, but first, what the heck happened?" Naruko interrupted, pointing to the demolished remains of a castle. But it didn't have signs that it had been deteriorating for centuries — no, this one had been standing until very recently.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, suspicions already rising to mind. He quickly jumped up to get a better view of the damage, Naruko following his lead. A few minutes later, a crowd of people ran through the path they had just been standing on. Jiraiya winced; had they still been there, they would've undoubtedly been trampled by the panicking civilians. "Hey, you there!" Jiraiya called out, his voice stopping a man who appeared to be in his thirties. "What happened?"

"A monster!" the man answered, clearly terrified out of his wits. "A monster snake destroyed the castle in a flash. If you knew what's good for you, you'd run too!" And with that said, the man ran off with the fast-moving crowd.

Naruko frowned. "My village was attacked by a huge snake, too..."

Jiraiya tugged on the back of her kimono. "Let's hurry, Naruko. That snake is probably the same one that you saw before." Naruko frowned at the lack of information, but obeyed him anyway. The faster they got to their destination, the faster they would find Tsunade... and that meant her brother and teammate could be healed from their injuries.

By the time they finished combing through half of the supposedly-small town, night had fallen. Jiraiya internally sighed; why did both of his former teammates insist on being so ridiculously hard to locate when they didn't want to be found? Walking through the streets, a pub caught his eye. He looked back to Naruko, who had been silent ever since the fallen castle. "Let's dine here for now, okay?"

Naruko finally looked up from the sketchpad that she had unsealed sometime between the castle ruins and now — since they were walking casually through a small civilian town, she felt no need to be as aware as she would be in a foreign ninja village — and raised her eyebrows. "Uh, Pervy Sage, I sincerely hope you realize this is a _pub..._ "

"So?" Jiraiya asked flippantly.

"I'm underage, _genius_ ," Naruko deadpanned, her usual snark surfacing briefly. "And the snacks aren't going to be enough of a dinner, so don't pull that crap on me."

Jiraiya smirked, "Don't you have storage scrolls customized for sealing and preserving food? Eat that. Last I checked, you were pretty well stocked up on your female teammate's cooking."

Naruko sighed. "It's not so much the food, but the location." She frowned at the pub. "Most pubs have drunken people inside... and their negativity is amplified. It makes me dizzy sometimes. It's a bit easier to handle now I'm thirteen, but it's still uncomfortable."

Jiraiya frowned slightly. "That's right, you mentioned something similar about sensing negative emotions from Sasuke earlier. You can do that?"

"It's a side effect from being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki and being bonded with him. Sometimes beneficial, sometimes not so much." Naruko took a steadying breath. "Well, I suppose there's a reason why you want to go to a pub instead of a decent restaurant... so really, there's no helping it." She looked back down at her sketchpad, "I'll just distract myself with seals."

"You can gather all sorts of information in this kind of place," Jiraiya informed her as the two entered the pub. He abruptly stopped when a well-endowed blonde appeared right in his line of sight. Unfortunately for Naruko, she hadn't noticed his ceasing movements, as absorbed as she was in continuing the design that was slowly revealing itself with every line and curve of the led markings — and so naturally she slammed right into his back.

"Oof!" the young blonde gasped, fumbling with the sketchpad in an effort to keep it in her grasp. She would've fallen over had it not been for Jiraiya, who was used to her tuning out the world by now and quickly caught her around the waist. "Pervy Sage," Naruko complained as she righted herself, hugging her sketchpad against her chest, "next time you do something like that, _tell_ _me_. You're as hard as a damned brick wall."

Jiraiya chuckled sheepishly, lifting his hand to ruffle her hair. "Sorry, polliwog..." His eyes drifted back over to the woman, who had a drunken flush to her cheeks and a vacant look in her honey-brown eyes. An empty shot glass was tilted precariously in her slack grip.

Naruko tilted her head at her seemingly-entranced godfather, and followed his line of sight. Her lips twisted with disdain when she noted who he was staring at; another woman he would try to hit on, probably. She focused her attention on the woman sitting beside the blonde; she was fair-skinned and had a slender build with onyx eyes and straight, shoulder-length jet-black hair that covered her ears and framed her face. But what intrigued — and entertained — Naruko the most was the fact that she was holding a small pig in her arms. Said pig was light pink in colour and was wearing a pearl necklace with a dark red vest. And quite frankly, it was _adorable_.

Jiraiya took a step forward, and Naruko glanced up at him. She narrowed his eyes; there was no lecherous look or goofy, dreamy smile on his face, like the ones he would have when he spotted a particularly pretty target. His eyes were serious and his mouth was set in a grim line. Naruko returned her gaze the buxom blonde. ' _Could she be...?'_ Naruko quickly shook her head from the clouding thoughts and fell in step beside the Sannin as he made his way over.

The blonde woman's companion looked both surprised and somewhat nervous, yet pleased, at the man's presence. "J-Jiraiya-sama," she greeted, her eyes flickering briefly to Naruko — the girl was struck at how similar the shade was to her mother's — before returning to Jiraiya. "What are you doing here? Look, Tsunade-sama, it's—"

The older woman exhaled forcefully, glancing up with visible annoyance in her eyes, though it was a little offset by the alcoholic flush dusting her porcelain cheeks. And yet, despite the signs that she had been drinking rather heavily, her words were anything but a slurred mess of syllables; "What do you want, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya remained silent for a moment, and then he spoke. "It's been a while... Tsunade."

* * *

 **(1) "Monody" by TheFatRat (ft. Laura Brehm)**

( **2) Hiraishin: Space-Time Hurricane Flash Sequential Steps: Style Zero is a jutsu used by Minato Namikaze, though it is only seen in the game** Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution


	17. Godaime Hokage: Tsunade Senju

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay; this has been a super-hectic few weeks, what with rescheduling all the exams that were cancelled during isolation period, so I've been both stressed and distracted trying to study/juggle six exams (I'm so freaked out because they're worth 10% of my ATAR) within three days.**

 **As a heads-up, my updating schedule is likely to be thrown off for a while, but I do have a few pre-written chapters that just need a few more finishing touches, so hopefully it won't be too out of whack.**

* * *

 _"It's been a while... Tsunade."_

His voice sounded low and gravelly, in a certain way that Naruko recognized as him trying to hold back his emotions. She instinctively moved closer to him, her hand reaching up to grasp his sleeve. She wasn't exactly sure who she was trying to comfort — herself or him. This wasn't what Naruko had in mind when she imagined meeting the famed Slug Princess Tsunade Senju, and to be frank, the amount of negativity radiating from the drunken woman was making her dizzy. Her glabella and nasion was throbbing dully in tandem, so she squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to soothe the ache. Naruko stepped behind her godfather — as if the physical barrier of his body could do anything — and leaned her forehead against his broad back. The pressure helped ease the pain, if only a little.

Jiraiya blinked as he looked behind him at the suddenly-silent teenager. "Naruko?" he prodded, gently, only receiving a sharp intake of breath at the quiet query. He frowned, concerned at the uncharacteristic behaviour. He reached down and untied her forehead protector before slipping his hand between her forehead and his back, feeling her forehead for any warmth. No fever.

"Sensory overload," Naruko finally managed to whimper out, and Jiraiya instantly understood. He almost kicked himself for not thinking of it earlier; if the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had the ability to sense negative emotions, then of course it would extend to the point of hypersensitivity. It was just their luck they caught Tsunade in one of _those_ moods.

"Sorry," Jiraiya murmured, taking her hand and leading her over to sit on the chair. "I know it's a little too close for comfort, but you might get used to it. You can go outside if you want."

Naruko shook her head with a strained smile, and pulled out her sketchpad. Jiraiya sighed — he wasn't sure if he should be proud at her resilience or exasperated at her stubbornness and the way she just didn't know when to quit. He ignored Tsunade and Shizune's curious stares as he sat down next to Naruko and lifted his arm when she shifted so she was leaning against his chest with his arm wrapped loosely around her.

The blonde pulled out a scroll and unsealed a golden bowl — cooked brown rice topped with air-fried tofu, chopped cabbage, grated carrots, sauteed veggies, and some gravy on top. At the black-haired woman's wide-eyed look, Naruko unsealed another bowl and offered it to her with a smile. Shizune accepted it with a tentative smile.

"Damn," Jiraiya smirked, "figures you'd have a whole homemade meal for yourself when I come into a pub." He reached over to the small white sake jug and poured both himself and Tsunade a drink.

Tsunade didn't hesitate to upend the small cup, even with the prominent flush spreading across her cheeks. "It's like a reunion... all the old faces coming back at the same time," she murmured.

Jiraiya simply poured her another drink, and then swallowed his own. "You mean Orochimaru." It was a statement, not a question. "So what happened?"

Jiraiya didn't miss the sharp look exchanged between master and apprentice before Tsunade answered, "Oh, nothing much. We said hello, and that's about it." She reached into her shirt and pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them, her speed increasing as the seconds ticked by.

The Toad Sannin narrowed his eyes; so that was how she wanted to play it. He removed his arm from around Naruko, and the girl sat up and sealed away her sketchpad, seemingly catching on to the serious atmosphere.

"Well then," Tsunade started as she set down the shuffled deck between the two Sannin, "why have you been looking for me?"

Jiraiya took half and half, reshuffling it. "I'll cut right to the chase." He placed it back down onto the table, holding his teammate's gaze. "Tsunade, Hiruzen-sensei wishes for you to become the Godaime Hokage."

Tsunade's hand stopped short of the deck of cards. Naruko titled her head slightly in surprise; why did she look so... frozen with fear? Did she despise Konoha, or the position itself? A quick look at both the pig and the other woman showed they were just as surprised, and wary. What happened to them to cause such unease?

 **"When one gives their all to someone, and they get nothing but rejection in return, it is to be expected that they turn cold and bitter towards those they had given their all to."**

Naruko frowned at the cryptic fox, but didn't get a chance to inquire his specific choice of words when Tsunade took the deck, tossing out cards to both herself and Jiraiya. The woman said nothing at first, and then after Jiraiya picked up his set of cards, she finally spoke. "I was told the Sandaime Hokage was killed, by Orochimaru himself."

"So is that what he believes?" Jiraiya seemed more amused than anything. "No — thanks to the Yondaime Raikage and the Yondaime Mizukage's efforts, Hiruzen-sensei is still alive... but he will never use chakra again. But we're getting off track." Jiraiya replaced two sixes and an eight for two kings and an ace. "Both Hiruzen-sensei and the village have made their decision to choose you as their Godaime Hokage. What is your answer? Do you accept it, Tsunade?"

Tsunade closed her eyes as she remembered Orochimaru's words: _"This time around, I'm going to grind Konoha into dust."_ Her mind brought forth the smiling faces of the two most precious people in her life that she had loved and lost — her lover Dan Katō, and her little brother Nawaki Senju. And of course, that led to a memory of Orochimaru's bargain: _"I'm offering to bring your dear little brother and your beloved back to life..."_

Naruko grimaced at the amount of pain and conflict that suddenly flared up around Tsunade. ' _What's going on, Kurama? I'm usually never_ this _hypersensitive._ '

 **"Yes, right, about that,"** Kurama chuckled nervously. **"Apparently the time has come when our bond has strengthened to the point where the side affects of being my jinchuuriki start to evolve. It'll have worthwhile results, I assure you, and we'll be more... in tune, so to speak. This also means we can start working on Bijuu Mode a lot sooner than I anticipated. But the one downside is that it's going to go more than a little out of control for a... while."**

' _How long?'_ Naruko asked warily. ' _And what do you mean by 'the time has come'?'_

 **"...puberty."**

Naruko fought to keep from face-faulting; as it was, her eye was violently twitching. ' _...oh hell no. You mean I have to deal with this until I'm_ sixteen?'

 **"Hey, this is your body, not mine. And to be fair, Fuu and Gaara are going through this, too. All three of you are the same age, after all... give or take a few months."**

' _Small comforts._ ' Naruko listened as Kurama snorted in amusement, and then turned back into the conversation happening around her.

"Well? I'm waiting," Jiraiya said quietly. "What do you say?"

Tsunade threw her set of cards down. "Impossible. I decline." She looked up at Jiraiya, who was smirking at her.

"You know, that's kinda funny. That rings a bell. I remember you saying those exact words the first and only time I asked you out."

"Can you please just not be a womanizer for one conversation?" Naruko pleaded. "I get that she is your former teammate and probably used to your antics, but you're still embarrassing me and I don't appreciate it." She ignored Jiraiya's offended look and the black-haired woman's muffled giggles, and turned to Tsunade. The Slug Sannin was looking back at her with faint amusement and curiosity. "Look, if you don't want to be the Godaime Hokage, then fine — I'm sure you have _some_ valid reason... but could you at least return to the village for a bit? There are three people, two of whom are very important to me, who desperately need your help."

Tsunade stared silently at the girl who had been quiet up until now. Her piercing azure-blue eyes seemed to see directly into her, but there was a faint calculative expression that she didn't like one bit. "Who's the brat, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "This is Naruko Uzumaki."

Tsunade's eyes widened. ' _This kid is the Kyuubi's...?'_

Naruko gave a small nod. Tsunade blinked; had she read her mind? She focused her attention back to Jiraiya, "She's less obnoxious than I thought the Uzumaki are known to be."

"Naruko here was raised by Kakashi Hatake," Jiraiya said simply. Naruko held back a smirk; of course that was what he thought. Of course, those who were aware of their unlikely sibling-like bond also assumed the same. How far they were from the truth...

"Hmm, that explains it," Tsunade mused. She then returned her attention to Naruko, "I refuse to step foot in that accursed village ever again, gaki. Don't try to persuade me. You will fail."

A smirk spread across said gaki's whiskered face. "Challenge accepted."

"Naruko, _no_ ," Jiraiya groaned. "That wasn't a challenge. Look, she knows she can't refuse. There was no one who contributed more to Konoha's victory in the Great War. She combines unrivaled skills as a warrior with the ability to heal others. What's more, she is the granddaughter of the very first Hokage, so in heritage and abilities, she is the clear and _only_ choice to be the Godaime Hokage. And once she accepts her destiny — which she _will_ — then she'll have to come back with us to the village."

Naruko cocked an eyebrow. "So... you're essentially blackmailing her with her background to get her back into the village. Uncool, Pervy Sage."

"I can't tell if she's like your last apprentice or not," Tsunade commented. "She's smart-mouthed and cocky, but quiet when she wants to be. I bet she has a temper to match her mouth."

"Well, to be fair, it'd be hard for anyone to measure up to _that_ standard," Jiraiya said calmly with a little amusement. "The Yondaime Hokage showed all the signs of becoming the greatest ninja in generations — brimming with talent and natural ability, brilliant, popular, and to top it all off, nearly as handsome as his teacher."

"Oh sure," Tsunade said dryly, "but all that didn't save him from dying young. Throwing his life away, all for the sake of the village. Money's one thing, a life's another."

Jiraiya shot a sharp look at Naruko when her teacup cracked from where it was cupped between her hands. ' _Uh-oh..._ '

Tsunade scoffed quietly. "To risk your life against all odds? _That's_ a sucker's bet. My grandfather and his successor, they were also willing to die to defend that damned village. Well, they're both dead alright. And the village is no safer than it ever was. Playing at Hokage... count me out. It's a fool's game."

The three adults looked up when the table shook from the force of Naruko slamming her hands on the table. "Alright, look here, _hag_ — it's 11:00 PM and I'm a flaming ball of frustrated rage with tea—"

"An adorable one, as per usual," Jiraiya coughed into his fist.

"—and I have a damned migraine because of you and your cynicism-pessimism hybrid attitude. So if you're going to be a stubborn old bat then why don't we take it outside?" Naruko glared at the Sannin.

Tsunade blinked at the abrupt change in behaviour. "Do you know who I am?"

"I have so many sarcastic replies and insults that I can't even begin to choose one," Naruko said flatly.

"Well, you've got guts, if nothing else," Tsunade conceded as she stood up. "Alright, I accept."

Naruko swiftly turned and walked out of the pub, Jiraiya right beside her. "Have you finally gone mental, polliwog? You know what it means that she's a Legendary Sannin, right?" the Toad Sage hissed at her. "Please tell me you at least have _some_ sort of half-formed strategy."

Naruko smirked at him, her hand in the storage seal on the right side of her obi. "No... more like taking advantage of a strong shinobi as a chance to experiment..."

Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Well, for your sake, I hope it works."

"Have some faith, Pervy Sage," Naruko patted his arm and went to stand opposite Tsunade, a few meters being all that stood between them in the empty, lamp-lit street.

"A Legendary Sannin against a shrimpy Genin?" A sardonic smile came across Tsunade's alcohol-flushed face. "I ought to be ashamed of myself." Tsunade lifted her index finger and held it out to the girl. "You see this? One finger. It's all I'm going to need to take _you_ down," she informed with a mocking edge to her tone. Naruko shot a sharp look at her godfather, seeing his eyes narrow at his old teammate. Tsunade remained oblivious as her finger curled in the universal beckoning sign. "Well? What are you waiting for, _shrimp?"_

Naruko narrowed her eyes and, with her left hand, brought out four shuriken held between her fingers. Her right hand curled around a circular object in her seal. With one swift movement, she threw the shuriken at Tsunade's head — as expected, the blonde woman dodged them expertly, not at all fazed by the weaponry assault. Naruko ran at the Sannin, pulling out a regular kunai to draw Tsunade's attention away from her withdrawing right hand. Once Naruko was within close range, Tsunade hooked her finger through the kunai ring and swung upwards.

Metal hit metal as Naruko's hitai-ate flew through the air, and the Genin's eyes widened when she saw Tsunade's curled finger right in front of her face. The Sannin flicked out her index finger, sending Naruko flying back a second before a flare of embers burst in Tsunade's face. Her eyes widened and she staggered back a step, waving her hands to push away the embers that, while scalding hot, lasted only a second.

"Oh _sweet lanta,_ " Naruko's strained voice came from behind Tsunade; the three shinobi turned at the same time to see Naruko standing beside a familiar-looking tokuchū kunai embedded in the ground. She was doubled over with her hands on her knees, whiskered face pale and twisted into a grimace. She stood up and glared at Tsunade, hands on her hips. "First of all: that was just plain mean, knocking off my hitai-ate. Secondly: you _strongly_ remind me of my teammate with your freakish strength. I think I'm going to have a bruise from that flick alone. And third: Pervy Sage, how much chakra did my otou-san _have_ to do this consecutively _and_ for long distance? I can't have travelled more than five meters and I'm _drained_ — which should be impossible for me to feel, considering my condition."

' _What?'_ Tsunade's eyes were wide. ' _That jutsu... it's..._ '

"Was that... Hiraishin?" Jiraiya blinked rapidly.

"No, it was just me spontaneously self-combusting in that baa-chan's face," Naruko sarcastically quipped, herself and Jiraiya rolling their eyes in tandem for two different reasons. "Yes, I think I have it figured out. And I don't actually know why flames — or embers, really — came out during the execution. But I'm not sure if I'm doing it wrong or if I have the formula wrong, because since otou-san used it so many times in a row over such long distances, it really shouldn't take up this much chakra."

' _Unbelievable..._ ' Tsunade's gaze flickered from her old teammate — he had the audacity to look _proud_ — before settling on the lightly grimacing Genin. ' _I never expected the Yondaime Hokage's jutsu... still, it's not the real thing. At least, not coming from this shrimpy Genin_.'

"Maybe you need more practice?" Jiraiya suggested with a shrug. "I doubt your formula is wrong so I'd say chakra quantity — maybe you're not putting it in right — or you could just need practice teleporting that particular way. This is, after all, the first space-time ninjutsu you've ever worked with. I'm impressed you've come this far."

"So am I," Tsunade spoke up, curiously eyeing the Genin with a new light. "But shrimp, tell me... what makes you so touchy about Hokage?"

Naruko sighed, crossing her arms over her obi and cocking her hip slightly. "My name is Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze. I am the only daughter of the Red Hot Habanero Kushina Uzumaki, and the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze." Her eyes hardened and her arms tightened over her abdomen. "My father did _not_ throw his life away. He _sacrificed_ it to _protect_ the village he loved. I myself, am a sacrifice... a byproduct of _his_ sacrifice, so to speak. Earlier, you said Konoha was no safer than it ever was... well, I have no objections to that — the villagers were, and still are, hardly kind to me, let alone civil. But being what I am, I know that it's my duty to protect my designated village. Despite what Pervy Sage says, _you_ have a choice. I never had that luxury. I am a weapon, a tool to be manipulated to suit the village's needs." A sardonic smile lifted her lips. "It's my destiny to be this way until the day I die."

Tsunade blinked at her. "You know."

"Of _course,_ I know," Naruko rolled her eyes, "it's hard _not_ to when the fuzzball won't shut up."

Jiraiya choked on the tea that he had swiped from one of Naruko's scrolls. He cleared his throat and covered his smile with a hand, still finding himself endlessly amused at the relationship his goddaughter and the surprisingly-non-murderous Bijuu had.

"But it'd be a sad life if I succumbed to being the ace up a village's sleeve," Naruko mused. "So as Neji Hyuuga is so fond of saying, I'm resisting my destiny. I know I'm not a weapon. I'm a human, the same as you. And every human has to have at least one precious person to them... you can't just shut everyone out. You have to have someone hold onto, someone to love, _someone_. That's the reason I'm here now. Maybe it's not along the same lines as Pervy Sage's, but I'm here to ask you to help my friends."

"Oh my Kami, the Talk no Jutsu strikes again," Jiraiya muttered under his breath. Louder, he said to the two females, "But you realize she's gonna have to take up the hat eventually."

Naruko snapped her fingers in his direction twice. "No, the adults are talking. You, shut up."

Jiraiya looked mildly offended while Shizune ducked her head in an effort to hide her laughter.

Naruko rolled her eyes and turned back to Tsunade. "Regardless of what you or anyone else thinks of me, regardless of what they think of the position, and regardless of who my parents were, there is one thing you should remember about _me_ , Naruko Uzumaki." The teenage girl smirked as she tossed the tokuchū kunai up into the air and caught it in a reverse-grip in one swift movement, a determined gleam in her azure-blue eyes that both Sannin recognized to be the Will of Fire.

"To be Hokage — that is my dream."

Tsunade's eyes widened as a soft gasp slipped from her lips.

"That girl..." Shizune murmured, her own eyes wide as she stared at the jinchuuriki.

 _"My dream is to be the greatest Hokage Konoha ever had"_ — Naruko had made that up the day of the Team 7 introductions. But as she got to know her village and the people who lived in it, she found herself caring for the village of her origins. Perhaps the more ignorant of the village's population — such as civilians and the older, bitter shinobi — were not appreciated, but Naruko had been pleasantly surprised time and time again when her team and even the other rookies readily came to her defense against the hostile treatment. Every one of the rookies — including Hinata, and recently Team 9 — had gotten so angry on her behalf at least twice that Naruko had to drag them away before they had dealt any permanent damage — more often than not it was Sasuke, Sakura and now Kiba and Neji. Despite the occasional consequences, it made Naruko smile just thinking about the fact that she now had people who cared about her to the extent of standing up for her in public. She had even made friends with civilian children from the younger generation when babysitting with her team. Their innocence and open-mindedness had been a shock to Naruko at first, since she was so used to children running away from her at first sight; it was almost refreshing to see one run straight to her instead. Striving to be Hokage was a facade of the past, but now it was reality.

Tsunade lowered her head, an indecipherable emotion in her whiskey-brown eyes. After a brief moment of silence, she turned her gaze on her fellow Sannin. "Jiraiya, did you teach the shrimp the Hiraishin?"

"I would like to say that I did, since I'm her teacher, but this time it's a solid no," Jiraiya raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, "that's all Naruko. I just lectured her on the background theory and gave her Minato's fūinjutsu journal, and from there she figured everything out for herself. So if you want to yell at someone for being reckless, yell at polliwog over there," Jiraiya was quick to point at his goddaughter, who mockingly-glared at him.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and turned back to Naruko, who was watching her calmly. "What's the point of learning that jutsu? My great-uncle was the one who invented it, and your father was the one who evolved it. But no one else has been able to come close to recreating or even simply using the jutsu to the extent they did. You'll never master it, so why start?"

"It's true I'm not my father," Naruko said calmly, "but I believe in myself, because he did... I know he did, because he gave me a burden he trusted no one else with. But in this state, you wouldn't understand. But maybe someday..." Naruko shook her head and the sadness disappeared from her eyes, a now-familiar determination replacing it. "Give me three days, and I'll have that jutsu down to the point where I can execute it flawlessly."

"Watch what you say, shrimp," Tsunade warned her. "I might just hold you to it."

"I said it, and I never go back on my word," Naruko shot back. "That's my ninja way. Anyone who knows me, knows that."

"Well then... care to make a bet on it, then?" Tsunade drawled out, though Naruko didn't miss the careful undertone. "I'll give you one week. If you can master that jutsu by then, I'll admit I'm wrong and that you're worthy of becoming Hokage. I'll even throw in my necklace," she pointed at the teal-coloured jewel resting on her bosom.

"Tsunade-sama, no!" Shizune cried at once.

"I'm not really into jewelry..." Naruko sweatdropped. Why would Tsunade think she wanted such a thing? Sure she was a girl, but she was a _kunoichi,_ and kunoichi didn't exactly have a necessity for jewelry — not unless it had a specific purpose or sentiment.

 **"You numbskull,"** Kurama sighed, **"that's the necklace of the Shodai himself. There are only two like it in the world. That little thing is worth three gold mines."**

' _Really?'_ Naruko rubbed the back of her neck. "Fine — baa-chan, you have yourself a bet."

"Don't call me that, shrimp."

"I'll stop once you quit calling me "shrimp"."

"Not a chance."

"Then you have your answer."

* * *

"Stupid piece of... of... abominable _shit goblin_ ," Naruko muttered under her breath as she flipped to another page of her sketchpad.

Jiraiya glanced up with a raised eyebrow at his goddaughter, bemused at her unusual insult. A quick glance at the clock showed she had been working on the "stupid piece of abominable shit goblin" for three hours. Enough was enough, he decided with no small amount of amusement, and meandered over to sit down beside her, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "Alright, what's up with you and that sketchpad, polliwog?"

Naruko sighed and flipped over her previous pages, showing him half-finished sketches of seals. A talisman depicted a very familiar juinjutsu was tacked on the side. "I'm trying to find a way to unseal the Hyuuga branch family juinjutsu, the Caged Bird Seal. But the thing I forgot is that this seal not only seals the Byakugan upon the Hyuuga's death, but it also targets the wearer's brain cells at the main family's will. Right now I could theoretically use Version 13," she flipped back to show him a sketch next to a blank talisman, "but the erosion of the seal suggests that there is an extremely high likelihood of the process being a painful one." Naruko sighed and switched to her new, blank page.

Jiraiya watched as she tapped her pencil impatiently on the blank page, her brow furrowed in thought. "You know, Minato tried to do the same thing," he said quietly. Naruko's head snapped towards him as the tapping abruptly ceased. The Toad Sage smiled a little ruefully. "I believe he was halfway done... and then he just stopped."

Naruko's brow furrowed even further. "Why would he do that?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "As Hokage, the Hyuuga clan wouldn't've threatened him, so the only reason I can think of is that he either realized it was impossible, or Hiashi Hyuuga — who was the one to request Minato to find a removal method — asked him to stop."

Naruko blinked. " _Hiashi?_ The Hyuuga clan head?" She sat back at Jiraiya's nod, a contemplative look entering her eyes. "I was under the impression Hiashi-san supported the use of the Caged Bird Seal... it certainly sounded like he used it more than once." Naruko reached out for a scroll and unsealed her father's journal, flipping to the very end, to where there was a sketch that bore half of the Caged Bird Seal on the right, and indecipherable squiggles with annotations on the left. It looked as if Minato had sketched out the juinjutsu, erased half of it, and sketched his own thing beside it. ' _So that's what this was..._ '

"But you forget," Jiraiya said softly, "even if he did use it, his own little brother was in the branch family. And I know for a fact that Hiashi never wanted a body double; he was ready to give up his life to the demands of Kumo, but the Hyuuga elders suggested offering Hizashi instead due to his having been branded with the Caged Bird Seal. He protested, but Hizashi went of his own will... said he was defying his destiny."

Before Naruko could inquire further as to what Jiraiya was implying, there was a knock on the door. Goddaughter and godfather exchanged looks, clearly remembering the last time someone had knocked on their hotel door. Jiraiya gestured for her to stand by the window in case she had to make a quick getaway, and cautiously approached the door. Naruko's tense posture only relaxed when Jiraiya stepped aside to allow the familiar figure of the black-haired woman — Shizune — into their room.

"I know it's late," Shizune said apologetically, "but I need to talk with Naruko." She looked up as the blonde walked over silently, reaching up to tug Jiraiya's sleeve. Jiraiya held the blonde's gaze for a moment before giving a curt nod and stepping into the bathroom; a moment later, the running water could be heard signifying he was taking a shower.

"What did you need to talk about?" Naruko asked as politely as she could. "I would like to get a good night's rest so I can start training tomorrow."

"That's just it," Shizune said, almost fretfully, "I wanted to talk to you before you get too invested in this. It's about the necklace, and Tsunade-sama." Naruko remained silent, a silent query in her eyes that Shizune took as both acknowledgement and a gesture to continue. "You see, Tsunade-sama wasn't always this way — she was kind, dedicated to the village. But... she's changed. Ever since... _that_ day."

"What day was that?" Naruko asked softly, sensing this was a touchy subject for Shizune as well.

Shizune looked up, her onyx eyes hard. "The day she lost all she had," she answered ominously. "Dreams, hopes — _everything_. She had nothing left after that. Except the necklace and all of its memories." Her face softened with grief and distress. "Please understand, that necklace is more precious than life for her. It's not simply a piece of jewelry to be gambled away on a silly bet." And so Shizune told the girl about the story behind the wearers of the necklace — of Tsunade's little brother Nawaki who died a day after his birthday, and of her uncle Dan Katō, who Tsunade had loved but was unable to save.

' _So that's what you meant, Kurama, when you said that it's only natural for someone to turn cold and bitter towards those they had given their all to and received nothing but rejection in return_.' Naruko sighed. "I think I do understand, if only a little... after all, I also don't have anything, but I can't compare since I never had anything to begin with." Naruko paused, ' _Well, as far as you and everyone else know._ ' She looked up again. "But it seems I'm the one who's sorry — a bet is a bet. Besides, it _was_ her idea, not mine."

"If you think this is something you can wear like a trophy—" Shizune cut herself off. "This isn't just any sort of necklace!"

"That thought never crossed my mind," Naruko answered calmly. "The only thing I wish to do is prove her wrong — I am not my father, but I will be _better_. I am worthy of the title of Hokage, and I know that because I am willing to work for it. Nothing in my life has ever been handed to me on a silver platter, and I don't expect the position to come easily, either. I could care less about the necklace, no matter who it belonged to or how much it may be worth... but your Tsunade-sama threw it into the bargain. So when I prove her wrong, I also intend to collect it."

"It won't accept anyone else as its wearer," Shizune warned her. "Only on Tsunade-sama does it remain safe. When anyone else puts it on, they die."

"I won't die," Naruko answered. "Not until I become Hokage."

"Naruko Uzumaki..." Shizune closed her eyes. "You are one of a kind."

A small smile lifted Naruko's lip. "I know."

The two females talked for a while more, this time on lighter matters, before Shizune finally took her leave. Seeing as Jiraiya was one of the few men who took three-hour showers, Naruko wrote him a note and left the room via window. There was someone she had to see.

It was easy to find her — after all, negativity surrounded her like a blanket. She was sitting atop a torii gate, her arms wrapped around her legs and her face buried in her knees. She didn't look up when Naruko landed lightly beside her curled up form, though her crying quietened until it had disappeared altogether.

"What are you doing here."

Naruko leaned against the the torii gate's pillar on the opposite side, pointedly keeping her eyes on the star-filled sky above them. "You know, some nights I wish I could just go back in time. Not to change anything, but just to feel a couple things a few more times." Her companion remained silent, and Naruko internally sighed. "Shizune told me... about the necklace, and what it does to your loved ones. I can't say I understand your pain, because I had nothing to begin with." Naruko paused. "Well, that's not true... but it's an S-ranked secret so I can't tell you yet. Maybe someday, though."

Tsunade scoffed wetly. "I'm a Sannin. There's no secret too high-ranked for me."

"Maybe," Naruko conceded, "but this one is special." Silence fell over them, before the younger spoke up again. "People change for two main reasons: their hearts have been broken or their eyes have been opened. I don't understand what it feels like to lose everything in the magnitude that you have. But I do understand what it feels like to lose everything important to you while you can do nothing about it." She barely registered Tsunade's head lifting slightly at her words. "It's the kind of helpless feeling that you never want to feel again, and will do everything in your power so you don't have to... right?"

Tsunade remained silent, but Naruko was pleased to note the negativity had dulled to the usual levels. Well, usual for this woman haunted by her past.

"There's no point," Tsunade said dully, also turning her gaze to the stars.

"If you keep running away, there isn't," Naruko agreed. "But you can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the old one. Don't be afraid to start over, because this time you aren't starting from scratch — you're starting from experience. And besides... as a wise woman once told me, you can close your eyes to things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to things you don't want to feel. It's easy to part ways with people forever, that much is true, especially in our specific line of work. And that's why, when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it. Some people say that to be the perfect shinobi, you can't have any kind of attachment. I call bullshit. No one can vow to be perfect. In the end, all we can do is promise to love each other with everything we've got..."

Naruko's eyes drifted over to Tsunade, who was looking contemplatively at the sky without actually seeing its glittering beauty.

"...because love's the best thing we humans do."

Tsunade's blank eyes moved over to rest on Naruko, who was watching her calmly. "And just how did you get to that conclusion, shrimp?"

Naruko shrugged. "I realized at a young age that there's no point in living in heartache over what we can't change. Instead, we should strive to live in a way that will make all our sacrifices — and that of those who came before us — worth it. And never let your heart become numb. No matter how much pain you're going through, the solution should never be to turn numb. If you become numb just to avoid the pain, then you won't be able to feel happiness either. So feel the pain and resist the temptation to avoid it."

"You speak as if you went through this yourself."

"Maybe I did... maybe I didn't. All will be revealed when you discover the S-ranked secret."

Tsunade scoffed, and Naruko was happy to detect some humour in her tone. "There it is — that imp in you. I thought it was strange you were being so serious."

Naruko half-smirked half-smiled at her. "It doesn't hurt to laugh, you know. Laughing doesn't make bad things worse anymore than crying makes them better. It doesn't mean that you don't care, or that you've forgotten — it just means you're human. That you're letting go and moving on. And when you do that, you'll realize that letting go of suffering is not letting go entirely; you do not need to recall the bad to remember the good."

"Okay, that's enough of the lecture already," Tsunade finally snapped, but there was no real heat behind it. It was surprising, but Naruko didn't question the temperamental blonde.

The jinchuuriki returned her gaze to the stars. "One last thing: given your reputation as gambler, I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised you hadn't gambled your necklace away already. But if that necklace is all you have of those you loved... you can keep it, if you want. After all, this bet was never about anything but proving you wrong."

Having said her piece, although she admittedly took a long route for it, Naruko closed her eyes and let herself drown in the echo of one of her fondest memories:

 _"Blue B loved you, never doubt that. Sometimes, for life to continue, sacrifices have to be made — this is the way of the world. And as shinobi, we take lives to save lives. You'll understand when you're older. But for now, live your life and always remember, but don't let it consume you. Can you remember that for me, Naru?"_

 _"Yes..."_

 _"That's a no, then. Alright, come here — let me tell you the story of how the sun loved the moon so much, he died every night, just to let her breathe..."_

* * *

Naruko's eye twitched. ' _One day. Not even — one hour. I just wanted one hour where I could be uninterrupted and work on my jutsu. Is that really too much to ask?'_

 **"Apparently, the answer is "yes". And it's a pity, too. You were so close to getting it."**

Naruko scoffed. ' _Right. Close. If travelling three more meters without passing out is "close" to mastering the Hiraishin. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong_.'

 **"Well we can't wallow over that now... you better focus on the fishy Kabuto-guy."**

Kurama almost laughed when his jinchuuriki sighed again. ' _I have half a mind to just sit down exactly where I am. This whole retrieval thing is a drama show blown way out of proportion_.' Her eyes slid to the left as she heard her godfather shout in panic at how Tsunade's drug wouldn't be leaving his system for another few minutes. The blonde blinked curiously as Kabuto dipped his fingers in the blood from the slice in his palm — apparently blood was the legendary Tsunade Senju's weakness — and slide his blood-covered fingers down Orochimaru's discoloured arm. At the same time, both Jiraiya and Kabuto finished weaving an identical sequence and slammed their hands down on the ground; "Summoning Jutsu!"

And that was where the similarities ended — where Kabuto was able to summon two towering brown snakes, Jiraiya's summon on the other hand... ended up as a very familiar and very small orange toad.

"What's up?" Gamakichi called happily with a smile.

"What the—!" Jiraiya's eyes almost fell out of his sockets. "Why are _you_ here? Where the hell is your father?"

Naruko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do the words "chakra-suppressing drug" mean nothing to you, Pervy Sage?"

"Shut it, polliwog."

Orochimaru's quiet, scornful laugh drew their attention back to him. "Well Jiraiya... still playing the fool, I see. You always were ridiculous, but this time you've outdone yourself. Clearly our Tsunade has gotten to you somehow."

"Your jutsu did require a sacrifice," Kabuto told Orochimaru, standing up beside him. "Perhaps she was thinking ahead — drugging him somehow to suppress his power."

"To think she would make a sacrifice of Jiraiya..." Orochimaru's lips curled up into a cruel smirk. "Well, just as ruthless as ever, aren't you Tsunade?" Orochimaru gave one of his eerie chuckles again. "You're as big a disgrace as the day we met," he stated almost nostalgically, though there was an obvious edge of mocking to his words.

' _Okay, that's it — it really pisses me off when someone other than me mocks Pervy Sage,_ ' Naruko glared at the two Oto ninja. She raised her thumb to her mouth, "Gamakichi!" Familiar with their impromptu combined summoning technique, the young toad leapt onto her head as Naruko bit down on her thumb and wove the now-familiar hand sign sequence, edging her chakra with just the right amount of Kurama's to make the process easier. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened a little as he took a half-step back, and even Jiraiya and Shizune had a look of surprise at the large plume of smoke. "Th-This is..."

Naruko couldn't help the smirk that spread across her face when she suddenly found herself level with Orochimaru and Kabuto, once more standing atop the Chief Toad Gamabunta's head. "Déjà vu, huh 'Bunta?" Naruko remarked flippantly.

"Oh, it's you again," Gamabunta deadpanned. "What sort of trouble did you get yourself into this time? Another Bijuu?"

"No," Jiraiya answered as he leapt up to join his apprentice on Gamabunta's head, automatically reaching out to ruffle Naruko's hair. "She summoned you for me. Good job, polliwog."

Naruko beamed up at him. "Let me know if you want me to summon Kurama," she said as she took Gamakichi in her arms and jumped down Gamabunta's back, using it as a slide to get back down to the ground. Jiraiya couldn't help smiling as her childish giggles floated up to him, but then his smile fell as he turned to face his turncoat former teammate.

"Let's begin," Orochimaru hissed as the snake darted forward. "I want you to leave Jiraiya to me. The rest are yours to play with as you wish." There was a crash as the two snakes hit the ground in tandem, creating a large dust cloud.

Naruko was forced to turn her attention away from her godfather when she saw Kabuto going straight for Shizune. The dark-haired woman slid back her right kimono sleeve to reveal a metal contraption strapped to her forearm that shot out what appeared to be senbon needles — Naruko mentally filed that away for Sakura.

Kabuto was leaned to the side to dodge the projectiles as his hand lit up with blue chakra and rushing forward to hit Shizune in the center of her chest. With a grunt, she flew off her feet but also spewed some purple fog from her mouth.

 **"Poison — better move,"** Kurama said at once, prompting Naruko to flip out of the range of the billowing fog. **"One breath of that and you're a dead man. Uh, _girl_..."**

Shizune's startled cry drew Naruko's attention to the glowing hands that held both of Shizune's ankles. Being a medical ninja, Naruko had no idea what Kabuto did, but figured it was bad since Shizune instantly fell to her knees as Kabuto dispelled the Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.

"M-My leg tendons..."

' _Okay, time to be like Orochimaru and experiment on people_ ,' Naruko's fingers inched into her pouch. ' _...I am never using_ that _comparison again._ ' Taking a deep breath, Naruko sent her chakra to reach out for the kunai she had secretly slipped into Shizune's kimono earlier, and Hiraishin'd over to the Oto ninja. ' _Shit that's too much chakra spent all at once,_ ' Naruko winced as she slapped the sealing tag onto Kabuto's neck with her left hand and formed a one-handed Ram sign with her right. While at first the seal appeared to have failed, once Kabuto attempted to turn around to face her, he instantly froze up in an unnaturally rigid way.

Glaring at the girl who was looking at him curiously — _she was curious, of all things!_ — Kabuto reached behind him to take off the tag. The amount of effort needed to do so was not worth it as he instantly gave a screech of pain. Since he was apparently-paralyzed, it took him a while to get his fingers out of range from the talisman, and once they were, both shinobi could see his fingers were slightly burnt.

Naruko frowned and narrowed her eyes, observing the effects carefully. "Dang," she sighed, "it didn't work."

"What was it _supposed_ to do?" Kabuto cried indignantly. He could already feel his limbs tingling and becoming numb. Was it some low-grade poison?

Naruko sighed. "I invented a seal that paralyzes you with Lightning added to it. I've been trying to remove the Lightning element from it so once I get the base, I can work in other elements. But it's not working. So the seal was supposed to paralyze you, but apparently only _somewhat_ paralyzes you and also zaps you if you try to remove it. Which means there's _still_ Lightning in there. Damn," she cursed, clearly irritated it didn't work.

"And injects poison," Kabuto grumbled under his breath.

Naruko's eyebrows shot to her hairline and she suddenly seemed to light up. "It _does?_ What kind of poison? Painful or painless? When I say painless, I mean does it numb you? Did you feel it right away, or is it gradual? Can you tell what rank it might be?"

Kabuto stared at the blonde. "You don't even know how it works?" he spluttered in disbelief.

Naruko rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Um, you're actually the first person I've tried it on... guess that kind of makes you a test subject, huh? Sorry about that." She cleared her throat, adopting a more serious facial expression as she slid into an unfamiliar taijutsu stance. "But I'm really not, now that I think about it..."

Kabuto growled and sent some chakra to his fingers, forming a chakra scalpel. Naruko waited for him to cut off the tag — what fun was there in fighting a paralyzed man, after all? — and then ran at him as she threw multiple tokuchū kunai at the white-haired shinobi. One managed to scratch his cheek, distracting him for a moment as Naruko slammed her knee into his torso and knocked him off his feet. It seemed his reflexes were affected by the unintentional poison.

Attempting to turn his fall into a backflip failed as Kabuto felt his wrist being grabbed before it was pinned to the ground with a shuriken embedded into the earth through his glove's cloth. He instantly sliced off his glove with a chakra scalpel in time to dodge an incoming tendril of purple flames. Kabuto rolled to his feet to see Naruko standing a few feet away from him, the purple fire coiling around her body like a living manifestation. Naruko wasn't even touching it, a mere inch between the flames and her palms, but she controlled the whip of fire with fluid arm movements almost like a Tai Chi dance.

Kabuto was forced to move constantly in order to avoid being hit; despite it obviously being fire, it moved like water. He ended up being struck five times by it, and each time he managed to slice through it by hacking at the whip with his chakra scalpel. The only reason it worked was because of how frantic he was becoming — it held a strong force behind each lash, and the flames would attach to his clothing. He quickly deduced it wasn't harmful fire and so wouldn't burn him, but it was fire, after all...

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

Naruko smirked as her whip lashed right through the bullet, neutralizing it as the water fell to the ground with a splash. Her blue eyes widened as she drew her right palm backwards and then rotated both her wrists as she lifted her arms up. The fire rushed back to her and formed a small circular shield that protected her from the follow-up Wind jutsu. With a wave of her hand, the purple flames reverted back into a coiling whip floating around her body. "In case you haven't already deduced this for yourself, the fire I use isn't normal," Naruko said nonchalantly, "this fire is purple, which means it has sticking properties. You can't put it out with water or wind. Normal fire is wild and unpredictable, but this is tame and tranquil... almost like water, which I find beautifully ironic. Sticky flames is one of the easiest to control." Mentally, Naruko added happily, ' _And it's also conveniently used with Kurama's chakra, which means I don't have to use mine at all._ ' The Uzumaki couldn't help laughing at Kurama's overly-exaggerated sigh.

Kabuto gritted his teeth; he had no idea how to handle something like this. Hell, he wasn't even aware Fire could have different properties, let alone that there was someone who could utilize it with such effortless efficiency. But Orochimaru had trusted him with these three... two were out of commission already, but this one — _this little girl_ —was proving to be quite the troublesome opponent. And not in a good, challenging way. Apparently, his only option was to go for the Slug Sannin and finish what he started.

In a desperate move, Kabuto used his Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu in attempt to take her out the same way he had taken Shizune out. Unfortunately for him, that specific Earth jutsu was one of Naruko's brother-figure's favourites, and she was well-versed in it. But unfortunately for her, she hadn't been at all prepared for the massive snake that shot up out of the ground instead of Kabuto.

' _A snake. I_ forgot _about a massive freakin'_ snake _. Who does that?'_ Naruko backed away a step as said snake opened its massive jaws. "Gamakichi!" she shouted, as she turned to run, hoping to lead it away from Tsunade and Shizune — it wasn't going to be a clean cut battle. Naruko felt the familiar weight of the toad landing on her head, and skidded to a stop. Predictably, the massive brown snake had followed her, apparently intent on devouring her for lunch. Naruko shuddered at an impromptu flashback from Team 7's confrontation with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, but quickly shook it off.

"Please tell me you've learnt some attacks by now," she pleaded with the toad sitting atop her head.

"Haven't learnt it, but I've seen it plenty of times," Gamakichi answered. "It seems easy enough and we're pretty well synchronized, so we could try it out."

"Better than nothing," Naruko decided. "Tell me what to do."

From a few feet away, the two out of three Sannin facing off against each other paused in their battle when they saw a sudden flare of fire. "Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet," Jiraiya murmured in surprise, recognizing the cooperation ninjutsu. "Gamabunta, did you teach Gamakichi that?"

"No," Gamabunta answered, equally surprised. "I guess he must've seen it and decided to try it out with the girl."

Jiraiya shook his head with a smile, "She's more like her father than she will ever know."

"That apprentice of yours is quite talented," Orochimaru commented. "It's a shame I didn't mark her instead of the Uchiha. She even has a unique Fire Style that I have never seen before..."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "You're not getting within twenty feet of my goddaughter. Gamabunta!"

"Toad Oil Bullet!"

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

Naruko's face dropped of emotion when she saw an even larger cloud of fire originating from the Toad Sannin and the Toad Chief. "You copycat show-off," she muttered, even as she reached up to pet her summon. She nodded in satisfaction at the large burn on the snake summon's scales; it hadn't done a lot of damage, but enough that it injured the reptile pretty damn severely — Naruko had held it down with her sticky whip while Gamakichi hopped down to her shoulder so he was in better range for her Fire Style: Flame Bullet and prepared for his first full-scale Toad Oil Bullet. Of course, since it was their first try at this jutsu, Naruko hadn't been expecting much, but seeing as it was enough to burn the snake's body, she was pretty happy with their efforts.

"Stay back! Get away from me!"

Naruko's head jerked over to where Kabuto was standing over a trembling Tsunade. ' _Kurama, do check if there's something wrong with my memory, please, because I seem to be forgetting a lot of_ very _important things and it's_ quite _concerning._ '

Kurama chuckled deeply, **"You got it, Kit."**

"Please, get ahold of yourself, _Tsunade-sama_ ," Kabuto answered the Sannin coldly, spitting out her name like it was a disease. "Else the name of the Sannin, of which Orochimaru-sama is also called, will weep."

Naruko saw red when Kabuto started kicking Tsunade, and she started to run. She better than anyone what what it was like to be kicked when you were down, to be someone's punching bag for their misdirected hurt and anger. And that was something Naruko simply couldn't just stand by and watch. Just like she couldn't stand by and watch Sasuke fall into a darkness he might not recover from, or watch the villagers — civilian and shinobi —abuse each other because of some unresolved turmoil. ' _Better me than their loved ones,_ ' she had always reminded herself. _"Having a big heart is a great thing, but it can also be your biggest weakness that some will abuse,"_ Roshi had once told her. But still, Naruko tried to understand the villagers; it wasn't her fault, or theirs.

But what she saw now was something entirely different. Kabuto had no reason to hurt Tsunade, Orochimaru hadn't even ordered him to. The only reason he did so was because he _wanted_ to. It made it impossible for her to not do something; it wasn't the way her mother had raised her, the way her grandfather taught her. It wasn't the person she was.

* * *

 _"What are you three doing? Pretending to be meditating like monks? Don't tell me you've been binging_ Avatar: The Last Airbender _again?"_

 _"Okaa-san told us to guess what the most important thing about being a shinobi is. We already guessed the number of jutsu you possess, and the amount of experience, and even booksmarts. But it's none of those."_

 _"Hmm, I see."_

 _"Can you tell us, Yagu-nii?"_

 _"Sorry kiddo, not with something like this. Just don't overthink it, alright? And whatever you do, don't give up."_

 _"Of course not! That's my nindo way!"_

 _"Attagirl, Naru-chan."_

* * *

' _I get it... the most important thing about being a shinobi isn't the number of jutsu you have or the amount of experience... I can't believe I had the answer all along..._ '

Naruko sent out her chakra, reaching for the formula she knew by heart. She felt the despair, the hopelessness, the pain, the hurt, all originating from the Slug Sannin. Naruko hurt with her. She felt the now-familiar spark ignite as something clicked into place. Grasping hold of the figurative chakra thread, this time instead of coating it with chakra and pulling it toward herself, she sent a mere sliver along it and let _it_ pull _her_.

' _I_ _t's the resolve to never give up_...'

Fist hit metal with enough force to draw blood.

' _...am I right, okaa-san?'_

Kabuto's eyes widened, and Naruko could hear the soft gasp from behind her. She felt her hitai-ate trembling in tandem with Kabuto's fist. "Enough already," Naruko growled under her breath, a somewhat-transparent sphere of blue forming in her right hand. She moved at the same time Kabuto did; she launched the Rasengan at him while the Oto ninja gripped her outer thigh with his chakra scalpel. Naruko let out a grunt as she skidded to the ground, the jutsu dissipating. ' _Shit... Kurama?'_

 **"You have _got_ to start being more careful, Kit,"** Kurama scolded, **"or I _will_ find a way to inject you with cockroach DNA just so I can be sure you won't dig yourself an early grave."**

' _Right..._ ' Naruko almost sweatdropped at the Bijuu. Noticing that Kabuto was already running to Tsunade with a kunai in hand — seriously, why did he keep running away from her? — in a move that was slowly becoming second nature, Naruko let the chakra pull her towards the famed Slug Sannin.

Tsunade's eyes widened when she saw a burst of embers erupt in front of her eyes, and a blonde girl stood protectively in front of her. There was a slight slouch in her stance, and Tsunade's eyes widened even further when she took in her somewhat-battered profile before her attention was drawn to the sunlight bouncing off an incoming kunai.

"Enough... don't protect me, Naruko! Stop it! Just get away, run!"

And Naruko obeyed — but not in the way Tsunade wanted her to. She ran straight at Kabuto, a tokuchū kunai between her teeth. She wasn't even weaving any signs, and was simply running at him, as if that would do anything.

"Look out!"

Naruko narrowed her eyes and threw the kunai at Kabuto, who predictably shifted his head to the side to dodge the obvious attack. In the half-minute his eyes shifted to look at the uniquely-designed kunai, Naruko instantly formed a Rasengan in her palm. When Kabuto turned back to look at her, she burst into embers right in his face, causing him to cry out and stumble at the hot cinders marking his face.

"Wha—" Kabuto twisted his body around, but it did him little good as he was, for lack of better terminology, drilled into the ground as a Rasengan made contact with his torso. From survival instinct alone, a chakra scalpel formed in his hand and he instantly pressed it to the girl's chest.

Naruko Hiraishin'd to a kunai she had thrown earlier, her breathing a little harsher than it should be. ' _For all the trouble this jutsu gave me earlier, it's becoming almost natural now_.'

 **"So you figured out what's wrong with it?"**

' _I should've realized it sooner — of course such a jutsu, especially a signature one used countless times consecutively, would be tailored to take up as little chakra as possible. Otherwise it would be a hindrance to use and more of a last resort than anything else._ ' Naruko shook her head with a wry smile. ' _Nidaime-sama was a genius for creating it, but otou-san was a genius for recreating it with a wider opportunity range_.'

 **"Yes, they both were... and it's a shame your father's genius didn't pass down to you at all, you _idiot!"_ **Kurama suddenly roared. **"Your moronic ass got too close to Kabuto — who, need I remind you, is a _medical ninja_ — and now he's done some real bad damage to your heart!"**

' _My... what?'_

 **"Your _heart!_ You know, the one organ in your body that keeps you alive? Oh, and look at that you just passed out. Just fan-bloody-tastic. You know, if all my fur ends up grey, I truly would _not_ be surprised in the least. _And_ I'd know exactly who to blame!" **The Bijuu suddenly paused in his tirade. **"Why am I ranting to you? You're _unconscious_. Kami-dammit Kit, stop rubbing off on me! I do not appreciate it!" **Kurama paused again. **"Well, I think I'm going to let that Slug Princess take over since I'm rendered just about useless right now. Also I am so, incredibly _done_ with your shit... why am I _still_ talking?"**

Said Slug Princess had been staring at Naruko's doubled-over form in shock as she tried to take in the aftermath of Naruko's strategic move. ' _She actually mastered the Hiraishin... in one week!' _It was short-lived, however, when she saw Naruko fall backwards. Without thinking, Tsunade shot to her feet and ran over to the girl, dropping to her knees beside the Genin as she tried to assess the damage. Seeing movement from her peripheral vision, Tsunade narrowed her whiskey-brown eyes as she saw Kabuto stagger to his feet. "You... how can you be standing after that?"

"I focused my chakra on the point of impact," Kabuto answered, though his breathing was still laboured. "The minute she hit me, I started healing myself. It wasn't just for my medical skills or knowledge of jutsu that I was recruited, but for my regenerative powers. No matter how great the injury, I can repair and re-energize any damaged cells." And as he spoke, the burns and torn muscles were already knitting themselves back together as they disappeared from sight, new skin already replacing the old, shredded layer until there was nary a mark left on his torso. The only thing that told of his encounter with a Rasengan would be the tear in his clothing. "Can you see now why Orochimaru-sama values me so highly?"

Kabuto staggered a step towards the two blondes. ' _But there is a limit,_ ' he admitted to himself. ' _I'm almost out of chakra..._ ' Kabuto's eyes widened as he suddenly hacked up blood, falling to his knees before his upper body followed suit. ' _And now... I haven't enough chakra left. I never thought... even with my healing powers... the damage was too great._ '

Seeing that Kabuto was no longer an immediate threat, Tsunade paid him no attention and laid her ear on Naruko's chest. After a moment of listening, Tsunade's eyes shot open with alarm as she quickly sat up, not even noticing when her green haori slipped off her shoulders. ' _Her heart is failing._ ' Sending chakra to her fingertips, Tsunade carefully sliced through the black obi so she could open up the orange kimono. She gently laid her hands over the fishnet shirt; ' _The muscles surrounding her heart have been torn to shreds. When did that happen...? Wait, of course. That moment, just when Naruko made contact... Kabuto must've struck at her heart!'_

Utilizing the same toned-down chakra scalpel, Tsunade sliced a line down the fishnet shirt so the only covering left was the bindings around Naruko's chest. Tsunade ignored them — and the seal that signified she was a jinchuuriki — as she placed her hands directly over Naruko's heart, allowing the green healing chakra to flare to life around her hands.

"It's all over... for Naruko," Kabuto's weak voice rasped almost mockingly. "I... cut... her heart's chakra network which restores the strength... through the Kyuubi's chakra... with the last of my strength... in order to eliminate the possibility that she would heal with her own power. There's no way she can recover... even with you."

"Shut up!" Tsunade snapped. "I'll kill you later."

Kabuto blinked in surprise, but couldn't find the strength to answer. Not that he found it wise to, even if he had the strength. Tsunade was different... not exactly stronger, but just different. But he knew she was definitely angry, as well. Surely it wasn't just because he injured that girl? Sure she was the jinchuuriki, but was it enough to provoke such a strong murderous desire from one of the Sannin towards him? Jiraiya, he would understand, since he was Naruko's godfather. But Tsunade...?

Said Sannin's eyes widened. ' _She's stopped breathing!'_ In her mind's eye, she saw Naruko's face briefly be superimposed by that of her younger brother. ' _Dammit... dammit,_ dammit!' She didn't notice when the tears fell, nor did she particularly care. All she cared about was the girl dying — Jiraiya's goddaughter, Kakashi's sister, Minato's legacy, Kushina's daughter. The girl who had the same dream as her own little brother and her lover. The girl who had protected her at the cost of her own life. She hadn't given up... so neither would Tsunade.

' _Don't die... don't die! Don't die!'_

Her eyes widened and a soft gasp slipped past her lips when she saw a small tanned hand reach up and weakly grasp at her necklace.

Naruko opened one eye, her lips curving up ever-so-slightly. "The bet... I won it." Her azure-blue eyes slid closed and her hand fell. Tsunade grabbed it before it hit the ground.

"I-Impossible..." Kabuto stuttered, his eyes trained on Naruko's chest which steadily rose and fell with every breath.

"Hokage... is your dream, huh?" Tsunade murmured, still cradling Naruko's small hand between both of her own. ' _For the last time... just one more time..._ ' She gently cupped Naruko's head and lifted it off the ground, slipping the thin black thread around the younger blonde's neck. ' _I want to bet on you_.' Tsunade's eyes stayed fixed on the teal-coloured jewel resting on Naruko's chest. It looked... right, somehow.

She was drawn out of her thoughts when she both heard a crash — it was Jiraiya — and saw her dark-haired teammate flying towards her, a sword protruding from a smaller snake's jaws that emerged from within his open mouth. ' _He's aiming for this child!'_ Tsunade's body moved almost on instinct as she haphazardly pulled Naruko behind her a split second before feeling the metal slide through her chest.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Orochimaru jerked back, swallowing the sword, snake and returning his elongated tongue to normal length before snapping his jaws shut. The rogue Sannin looked down at his former teammate almost pityingly. "Tsunade... you're the only one I wasn't going to kill. If that child is allowed to live, it means more trouble in the future than you and your friends could ever imagine. Don't get in my way."

"No, you listen to me," Tsunade ground out through gritted teeth, hands gripping at the grass so hard it nearly tore them out by the roots. "This child... this is the child I swear I will protect, even with my last breath."

"And you do you plan to do that?" Orochimaru queried, a mocking sneer curling his lip. "Look at you — your body is shivering like a leaf in the wind. Besides, why would you — one of the Sannin — risk your life to save a lowly Genin?"

Tsunade spat out a glob of blood before raising her head to meet the Snake Sannin's gaze, her brown eyes dark with anger and hatred. "By saving her, I'm saving my home — Konohagakure!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "You really think you're saving the village?"

Tsunade shifted her head to look at the blonde lying on the grass behind her. Naruko was still unconscious, sleep causing her whiskered face to appear younger than her thirteen years, and the necklace was lying in plain sight on her chest. Tsunade's eyes softened. "You see, this girl... this lowly little Genin has been chosen by fate to be Hokage someday."

Orochimaru chuckled condescendingly. "What nonsense. Even if it is true, what of it? Who cares about the Hokage? Only a fool would want that job."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she realized how similar Orochimaru's words were to her very own a week ago; _"Playing at Hokage is a fool's game."_ Shizune's words, when she tried to convince her not to take up Orochimaru's admittedly-enticing offer, echoed not long after; _"Think of my uncle and your brother. It would be a betrayal of them... a betrayal of yourself. Have you forgotten all your dreams?"_ In her mind's eye, Tsunade saw the previous Hokage — _Grandfather, Great-Uncle, Hiruzen-sensei, Minato_ — as she recalled a late-night conversation with Jiraiya; _"Remember the Hokage that have come before and all they have accomplished for Konoha. They were willing to gamble everything — even their lives — to make sure the village survived and prospered through troubled times."_ Glancing back to Naruko's prone form, the same proclamation she had heard from three very different, but no less important, people reverberated in her mind; _"To be Hokage is my dream."_

Tsunade closed her eyes; a week ago, Jiraiya had asked what her answer was. She had been so sure of her answer back then, but all it took was one girl... one Genin... to make her change her mind.

"From now on, I'm gambling everything, too." Tsunade forced herself to stand up, meeting her rogue teammate's gaze with an unforeseen ferocity and passion that had Orochimaru taking an unconscious step back. "I'm putting my life on the line."

Orochimaru plastered his signature sneer on his face to cover up his shock at the Slug Princess' abrupt change in demeanor. "Well, if you're really willing to throw your life away for the sake of one insignificant brat, then I'm happy to accommodate you!" Orochimaru threw back his head as a familiar blade protruded from his mouth — **"A gross fellow as always, puking stuff out of his mouth,"** Kurama sighed boredly, resting his cheek on his paw — and lunged forward, slicing a deep laceration down Tsunade's front and effectively moving her out of his way.

Orochimaru slowly paced towards Naruko. "Now, all that's left... is Naruko herself." Swinging his sword down, Orochimaru was unprepared for the flare of demonic chakra before massive jaws clamped around the blade. His eyes widened when he saw a medium-sized fox standing protectively in front of Tsunade, his fanged teeth bared at the Snake Sannin while he growled dangerously, challenging him to take a step closer. A closer look revealed that Tsunade had thrown herself on top of Naruko to protect her, and now this fox was protecting the two females behind him.

Jiraiya, who had regained consciousness just in time to see Tsunade knocked off her feet, sighed in relief when he saw who had come to his goddaughter's rescue. "That fox... I swear he can be more of a helicopter parent than anyone I know." He suddenly blanched, "And he's gonna rip me apart for saying that out loud..."

"The Kyuubi..." Orochimaru stared in surprise. He had not known that Bijuu could be summoned outside of their jinchuuriki.

Kurama growled at him; who did he think he was, attacking _his_ Kit? He opened his jaws wide, red eyes gleaming with satisfaction when he saw Orochimaru's eyes widen in fear at the gathering of negative and positive energy between his jaws. **' _That's right, you_ snake, _run before I dissolve your puny existence into atoms._ '**

"Kurama, no matter how little chakra you put into it, you're gonna wipe us _all_ out!" Jiraiya's loud shout had the Bijuu snapping his jaws shut.

Kurama sighed in disappointment; **' _Why must the hermit have a point? Oh well... guess it will just have to be physical._ '** Smirking gleefully as he watched the smirk drop from Orochimaru's pasty face and be replaced with an expression of horror, Kurama grew in size as he pounced on the Sannin. Picking up the slimy man in his jaws, Kurama shook him back and forth like a dog's toy before hurtling him a considerable distance away. Kurama bared his teeth his Orochimaru's direction before spitting and hacking — **' _I really shouldn't be surprised that_ _a snake like him would taste slimy and disgusting..._ '** — as he shrank back to large-dog size.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the Kyuubi's easy work of Orochimaru, heaving to his feet and walking over to the fox, reaching out to stroke his bunny-length ears. "Good job, Kurama," he praised; a flat look was all he got in return.

 **"I am not a dog,"** he stated a-matter-of-factly before frowning. **"And who said you could stop scratching my ears?"**

Jiraiya sweatdropped. "O-Oh... sorry." He resumed scratching the strangely-floppy ears as Bijuu and Sannin slowly made their way over to where Shizune was kneeling by Tsunade and Naruko. "So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say nothing less than a son of a sealed death god could get up after that, am I right, Kurama?"

At the sound of Jiraiya's voice, the two women turned. Jiraiya was surprised that their reactions to seeing an eight-tailed fox walking towards them was far less than any normal person. But then again, they were shinobi... and it was _Tsunade_.

"So that's the Kyuubi?" Tsunade looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, his name is Kurama— ow!" Jiraiya glared at the fox who had whacked his head with one of his ridiculously-long tails. "What's the big idea?"

 **"I can introduce myself, _thank you very much_."** Kurama took a step closer, lowering his head so he would not appear to be too much of a threat. **"As the hermit said, my name is Kurama, and yes, I am the Kyuubi. Thank you for taking care of my kit."**

"Uh... you're welcome?" Tsunade phrased it as a question rather than a statement, clearly more than a little baffled at the fact that the supposedly-murderous Kyuubi was thanking her for healing his jinchuuriki. Jiraiya snorted, and received a familiar glare from his busty teammate in both warning and reprimand.

Kurama trotted between Tsunade and Shizune, leaning down to lick his jinchuuriki's cheek. Said jinchuuriki groaned, pushing his face away. "Gross... and you're the one who keeps insisting you aren't a dog, Kurama..." Naruko opened her eyes and, with the aid of her Bijuu, propped herself up on her elbows. She barely had time to gather her wits about her when a blur of orange flew at her chest, forcing her to bring up her arms to catch it.

"Naruko!"

"Hey Gamakichi," Naruko giggled, hugging him back. "I thought you went back with 'Bunta."

"No, Pops and I are still here," Gamakichi answered. "And besides that, you scared me!"

"Sorry," Naruko giggled again. "Oh, ouch, not a good idea." She lifted the toad off her chest and stared down at it blankly. "I think someone gave me a heart attack. Either that or they had a tiny truck ram directly into my heart a good five thousand times."

"No," Tsunade couldn't help but smile a little, "Kabuto severed the chakra network around your heart so the Kyuubi's chakra couldn't heal you. I managed to get to you in time."

"Huh," Naruko smiled, "guess I owe you one then, huh baa-chan?"

Tsunade's fist gently landed on top of Naruko's head. "Quit calling me that, shrimp."

"Not until you stop calling me "shrimp"."

"In your dreams, _shrimp_."

"Then you'll always be Tsunade-baa-chan to me."

"Hmph, and so I see you still don't—" One moment Tsunade was beside Naruko, and the next she was blocking Orochimaru's sword with her bare arm.

Jiraiya blinked. "Well... apparently my former teammate is a son of a sealed death god." He got a dope-slap from his goddaughter for the deadpanned remark, despite her not understanding the reference since she had still been unconscious at the time of his initial remark.

"Do not take another step towards that child," Tsunade snarled, the diamond on her forehead glowing purple as darker patterns inked themselves across her face and down her arms. "As the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure..." Tsunade lashed out with a chakra-enhanced kick, sending the Snake Sannin flying, "I forbid it!"

Naruko turned to Jiraiya and Shizune with her fingers up in a "victory" sign. "I knew she'd come around," the blonde sing-songed. Jiraiya barked out a laugh as Shizune reached out to pat her head with a smile. Naruko smiled back, and then tilted her head inquiringly at Kurama, ' _Can you actually do that? Forbid someone to take another step towards me? Seems a little extravagant..._ ' In silent response, Kurama rolled his eyes and told Naruko to shut up and watch the show like a good spectator, lest he "knock her out for her own good".

' _Tsunade's trembling... has stopped? I see... she has gotten over the curse of haemophobia._ ' The infamous Konoha rogue narrowed his eyes at the whiskered blonde who was watching curiously as two Sannin faced off against each other. ' _Don't tell me this is all because of that brat? Because of her ridiculous notion that the jinchuuriki needs to be protected?'_ With an internal shake of his head, Orochimaru forced himself to his knees and called out, "What are you saying you'll do, after all this time? You can't fight with that wound, even if you have conquered your fear of blood."

In response, Tsunade held up her hands in the Tiger hand sign.

"W-Wait! I'll treat that wound, don't release your seal!" Shizune cried in a panic.

Tsunade ignored her apprentice and proceeded with releasing her secret seal, her blonde tails lifting from the chakra aura she was radiating as a soft red glow illuminated her figure. "Ninja Art: Mitotic Regeneration." The inked patterns on her face disappeared as steam started to rise from her forcibly-closed wounds, until the only thing that indicated she had been injured was the bloodstains on her grey kimono blouse.

"It looks like I'm not the only one who develops new jutsu," Orochimaru remarked. "So, _hime_ , care to say what this new jutsu of yours is?"

"For many years, I have stored chakra in my forehead," Tsunade answered. "The mass of chakra stimulated a variety of proteins. The number of times my cell divides speeds to a dizzying rate... the cells rebuild and all the organs and body systems are revitalized. It's not the ability to restore but the ability to reincarnate. That means I won't die... from battles."

 **"But the number of times a person's cells divide in their lifetime is fixed,"** Kurama mused aloud, **"so if that speeds up, wouldn't it essentially shorten her life?"**

"All good things come with a price," Shizune answered, her onyx eyes fixed on her Master.

"You know," Jiraiya stretched out on the grass, "had things gone differently, you might've had a front-row seat to a reenactment of the legendary Three-Way Deadlock between Manda, Katsuyu and Gamabunta. Manda is Orochimaru's head summon and Katsuyu is Tsunade's. But the way Tsunade-hime is right now, I think she's ready to take him on by herself, and truth to be told, I'm a little wary of getting between the predator and her prey."

"Wuss," Naruko snickered. She didn't manage to dodge Jiraiya's answering swat at the back of her head.

Orochimaru shot out his extensive tongue, wrapping it around Tsunade's neck. "Well, I can kill you by wringing your neck. Even though you say you won't die in battle, you won't have a choice if I rip your neck off... right, Tsunade?"

"How is he speaking if his tongue is out of his mouth and wrapped around something?" Naruko raised an eyebrow before poking out her own tongue and trying to speak. It essentially sounded like she had a stroke.

 **"Naruko Uzumaki, asking all the right questions since 1990,"** Kurama guffawed. **(1)**

Tsunade was visibly struggling against the surprising strength of the slimy muscle that was tightening around her neck, but then again, she wasn't known as the strongest kunoichi alive for nothing. Sliding her right hand between her neck and the tongue, Tsunade started to push while her left hand pulled. "It's about time we put an end to this!" Tsunade declared as she yanked on Orochimaru's tongue so he was flying off his feet and towards her.

"R-Ridiculous!" Orochimaru choked out — "You know what's ridiculous? Your _tongue_ ," Naruko muttered — just before Tsunade's fist crashed into his cheek and shattered his jaw. She didn't let go of his tongue as she swung him up and around like a windmill before finally releasing his elongated tongue. Launching off the ground, Tsunade's fists greeted Orochimaru's face multiple times over before slamming her foot into the side of his torso and sending him careening down to the ground. Tsunade landed on Gamabunta, who had yet to disappear back to Mount Myōboku, and caught Orochimaru's tongue as it flailed uselessly behind his descending body. "Take this!" she roared, but both hers and Orochimaru's eyes widened when her fist missed the latter's face and froze in place, twitching and spasming.

"Tsunade-sama... she's at her limit," Shizune whispered in horror, eyes wide.

' _This guy..._ ' Tsunade's eyebrows were slanted down with a righteous fury even as she fought for breath, ' _I've hurled him around this much, and yet he's still..._ '

Orochimaru's mouth lifted into a cruel smile as his tongue contracted. "So this is as far as you can go," he mused.

Tsunade bared her gritted teeth at him. "Shut up!" she snarled, yanking him up and crashing her first into his torso, sending him flying for what had to be the twentieth time within the hour. She launched off Gamabunta's head, her fists and feet flying at his pasty-white face and chest with a relentless fury. With a loud battle cry, Tsunade smashed her fist into Orochimaru's cheek. At first, it seemed she had knocked him out, but with an alarmed shout from Kabuto, Orochimaru's eyes snapped open and he flipped to land neatly on his snake summon's head.

"I won't let you get away!" Tsunade shouted as she chased her former teammate. "You'll stay with me until the end!" Launching herself into the air, Tsunade flipped over Orochimaru's head and started attacking him with chakra-enforced kicks and punches. Some Orochimaru dodged, and some he didn't. The ones he did dodge showcased Tsunade's strength through the craters and fissures of varying sizes and depth in the ground.

Jiraiya sweatdropped while Shizune sighed and placed her head in her hands. Naruko blinked as her face dropped of all expression, and she slowly hugged Kurama closer to her, "For an old lady, she's _terrifying_." Kurama chortled in agreement before shrinking in size so he could nimbly climb up her shoulders and wind himself around her neck like a furry scarf, poking out his tongue to lick Naruko's whiskers. The blonde squealed in surprise, laughing quietly as she pushed his furry face away so she could rub her cheek dry of the saliva.

Orochimaru shot out his tongue and wrapped around Tsunade's torso, pinning her arms behind her back this time, and launched his sword simultaneously. Tsunade stopped her rapid descent by slamming both her feet around the sword and turning Orochimaru's dirty move on himself by using the blade as a kick-off point. Seeing as they were still airborne, it was easy for Tsunade to knock Orochimaru off balance by merely swinging around while releasing the blade. Such a tactic also succeeded in loosening the tongue's vice-like grip, freeing Tsunade and returning to normal length within Orochimaru's mouth.

The Snake Sannin barely had time to move before he was on the receiving end of another bone-shattering punch. Tsunade did not stop in her relentless assault until she executed an uppercut followed by a kick to Orochimaru's ribcage, forcing him to skid back a considerable distance in a cat-like crouch. Taking a brief moment to regain her breath, Tsunade slowly paced towards Orochimaru as her right hand lit up with blue chakra in a familiar shape — the chakra scalpel. Tsunade fisted her open hand as her chakra flared beyond the required amount for the original medic-intended purposes.

"It's over!" she growled at him. That was Orochimaru's only warning before her fist flew straight into his open mouth and propelling him into the air. The Snake Sannin was swatted from the air courtesy of Gamabunta's massive webbed foot.

"That's it," Jiraiya murmured quietly, "it's over." He stood up to go over to his teammates — one was at her limit, and the other needed to be taken into custody — when he was suddenly yanked back by jaws clamping around his forearm and hurtling him behind the Kyuubi. And just in time, as a weak Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique was fired in Tsunade and Orochimaru's general direction.

Kurama launched himself at the Slug Sannin, growing until he was large enough to scoop up the woman on his back before breathing out a breath of fire to vaporize the Water jutsu. Kabuto was a proficient Water user, apparently, because Kurama had to hold his returning fire longer than he initially calculated. The resulting amount of steam from the jutsu clash allowed Kurama to make a quick and clean getaway; considering his cargo, it was better to be safe than sorry.

And as it was with the luck of shinobi, once the steam cleared, both Kabuto and Orochimaru were gone. But for the moment, none of the three shinobi cared as Tsunade just about fell off the fox's back.

"Side effects of the jutsu are starting," Tsunade grimaced as Naruko took Kurama off to the side so Shizune would have space to do her work.

"Heh... I see you still suck at wagers, hime," Jiraiya remarked light-heartedly as he noticed the glint of a familiar teal-coloured jewel resting on Naruko's chest.

"Shut it, Jiraiya. I know when I'm wrong, I don't need you to rub it in."

* * *

"So you're going to be the Godaime Hokage, starting from when we step foot inside Konoha," Naruko mused. The four shinobi were sitting inside the same booth in the same pub that Jiraiya and Naruko had first laid eyes on Tsunade and Shizune.

"You seem a little... unsatisfied, Naruko?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

The blonde looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing. "Well, not that I'm not grateful for her saving my life, but... compared to Jiji, she's a little rough-natured, loose with money, catty, and is a fifty-year-old woman who transforms herself into a younger appearance. So you'll have to forgive me if I find myself worrying if she can do the job properly," Naruko said lightly as she leaned back on the booth seat, oblivious to Tsunade's growing irk marks.

"T-Tsunade-sama, would you like to order something?" Shizune asked hurriedly, trying to settle her master's ire.

"I mean, is it really okay for the person who is going to become the Hokage to be lying straight to everyone's faces, I wonder...?"

Tsunade slammed her hand on the table and leaned over to shout in Naruko's face, "Go outside, shrimp!"

Naruko opened her eyes to smirk at Tsunade, ignoring Shizune's alarmed exclamation. Jiraiya simply sighed in resignation; must his goddaughter intentionally antagonize his teammate just so they could have a rematch when she could've simply _asked_ like a normal person? Despite Jiraiya's chagrin, he soon found himself in the same position a week ago, with himself and Naruko standing opposite Tsunade and Shizune outside the pub.

"Despite how I look, I'm going to be the Godaime Hokage," Tsunade sighed with a half-smile. "I shouldn't take this shrimpy brat of a foe seriously..." Just like she did exactly one week ago, Tsunade held up her right index finger. "This one is enough."

"I'm not a shrimp," Naruko stated, crossing her arms under her chest with annoyance painted on her whiskered face. "I may be like this now, but I'm going to be Hokage someday. Just you wait."

The Slug Princess unconsciously smiled softly at her.

At the soft "buhi" from Tonton, the impromptu spar started — Naruko threw a kunai at Tsunade, who quickly caught it by instinctive reflex. Her eyes widened and she threw it to the fence just as Naruko Hiraishin'd to it; the blonde was left crouching sideways on the fence, sticking to it with chakra — "You look like a little spider," Jiraiya snickered — and hurled two more tokuchū kunai at Tsunade's head; she ducked. Taking advantage of her opponent's crouched position, Naruko Hiraishin'd to one of the kunai behind the Slug Sannin and attempted to kick her exposed back. Tsunade easily evaded by rolling to the side and went to flick her forehead when Naruko quickly flashed to the kunai still embedded in the fence. Tsunade slammed her finger onto the ground, creating a fissure that forced Naruko off her little fence.

Naruko flipped midair and blindly flashed to the closest tokuchū kunai, which just happened to be behind Tsunade's left leg. She was unprepared for the finger that hooked under her hitai-ate and flung it off her forehead. Naruko's eyes widened as she saw a curled finger heading towards her faster than she could respond to; she squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact.

But instead, she felt a hand tilt her chin up, and then soft lips were pressing themselves on her bare forehead.

Naruko's eyes shot open in surprise.

Pulling back, Tsunade smiled down at her. "Not bad," she admitted, "you're pretty fast."

"But not fast enough," Naruko answered with a sigh, though a smile was pulling at her lips.

"Keep that up and you'll grow up to be the second Yellow Flash," Tsunade told her. "And... I have no doubt you'll also grow up to be a fine Hokage. So don't die on me until then, ne?"

"Until I become Hokage, I won't die," Naruko promised. ' _Besides... I'm scared at the mere thought of what okaa-san and jiji and all my older brothers would do if I crossed over too early_.'

 **"Me too,"** Kurama answered at once, **"I'm completely, utterly and genuinely terrified."** And it appeared he really was, because Naruko could her a wary edge to his words.

"Well," Jiraiya clapped his hands once as he walked over to the blonde duo, "shall we go home now? To our hometown, Konohagakure!"

Tsunade smiled at her teammate in agreement before her whiskey-brown eyes drifted back to Naruko, who was smiling brightly at her godfather, and then down to the Shodai's necklace she was wearing with pride. ' _Do you see her, Nawaki, Dan? Rest in peace, you two... for your dream lives on... in_ her.'

* * *

 **(1) As I justified in Chapter 9: Chuunin Exams, I believe the Uchiha Massacre occurred in 1997, which means the Rookie 9 and their generation were born around 1990 (and consequentially this means Team 9 was born in 1989)**


	18. Status: Quiescent

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

* * *

Sasuke cracked open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a blur of red and pink hanging over him.

"Sasuke? You finally back to the land of the living, dum-dum?"

The Uchiha closed his eyes and opened them again, forcing his vision to focus. "Sa...kura...?" he groaned out. His throat was _so dry_. As if reading his mind, his medic friend helped him sit up and handed him a glass of thankfully-cold water.

"Where's Naruko?" he asked, handing the empty cup back to her. Sakura smiled in amusement, and made a point of looking down at his other side. Sasuke followed her line of sight; his eyes widened when he saw his other teammate's head resting on the bed, her head just touching the side of his blanket-covered thigh.

"She and Jiraiya-sama went to find Tsunade Senju of the Legendary Sannin," Sakura explained softly. "She had to battle with Kabuto Yakushi — you remember him? She's a little tired, but she refused to leave until you woke up."

Sasuke tentatively reached out to finger the blonde locks that were spilling all over the hospital sheets. ' _She looks peaceful_.' He narrowed his eyes a little at her worn-down features, and more than once he had to watch closely for the minute rise and fall of her back that indicated she was breathing. Sasuke couldn't help smiling a little in helpless, yet fond, exasperation. ' _She must've pushed herself to the point of knocking herself out... idiot. I always tell her not to overexert herself. Guess she never really listens after all._ ' He gently untangled his fingers from her hair and brushed his knuckles against the whisker-like marks on her face.

Sakura couldn't help smiling. ' _I wonder if he's even aware of how he's acting_.' The pinkette said at last, "I should go — you still need your rest. Do you mind if I leave her there?"

"It's fine," Sasuke murmured. "I don't mind."

Sakura smiled. ' _I know you don't_.' She hesitated before leaning over to press a chaste kiss to his temple in a sisterly fashion. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at her, but said nothing. "Take care of her for me," the pinkette winked at him as she slipped out of the room and practically skipped over to Rock Lee's room.

Sasuke's pale cheeks flushed a deep red at the implications. He hastily turned his head away from the doorway, focusing intently on the window beside his hospital bed. Unconsciously, his lips turned down into a frown. ' _Itachi... so Naruko was right. But that's not enough... I need to talk to you. I need to—_ '

"Oh, you're awake."

His head jerked up to the doorway, and saw a young blonde woman with brown eyes and a lilac diamond on her forehead. A pale flush rose to Sasuke's cheeks and he had to struggle more than he'd ever admit to stop his eyes from drifting down to her overly-generous bust. "Who are you?"

"Tsunade Senju," the woman replied simply, before her eyes landed on Naruko. Sasuke watched curiously as her eyes visibly softened, and she quietly walked around the bed to shake Naruko's shoulder. "Hey shrimp, wakey-wakey... don't you want to be there when I wake up your idiot of a brother?"

"You're unnecessarily mean, baa-chan," Naruko mumbled, swatting the Sannin's hand away as she sat up, rubbing her eye. "Oh, you're back from visiting Jiji already?"

"I've heard that one before," Tsunade answered with an indulgent smile. She tilted her head at the bed's occupant, seeing that Sasuke was patiently waiting for his teammate to come out her sleep-induced haze of mind.

"Huh?" Naruko blinked twice at Sasuke, who was raising an amused eyebrow at her, before her face was lit up with a grin. "Sasuke, you're awake! Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Funny," Sasuke said with a wry smile as he accepted his teammate's hug. "Sakura said the same thing when I first woke up."

"Eheh..." Naruko pulled back, though she kept one arm around him as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I guess I've been rubbing off on her, huh?"

"You've been rubbing off on _all_ of us, dobe," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Shut up, teme," was the automatic reply. The teammates exchanged secretive smiles — well in Sasuke's case, it was his perpetual half-smirk, half-smile — before Naruko stood up and held out a hand. "Let's get Sakura, and then we'll go see Kaka-nii."

Sasuke's smirk-smile — _shall we just call it a smirl?_ — widened. "Hey, I have an idea..." He leaned in to whisper said idea into Naruko's ear. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the devilish smile that was steadily growing larger and larger on the jinchuuriki's face, and silently wished the victim of the Uzumaki and Uchiha's combined apparent-prank all the best.

"Let's do it," Naruko grinned, punching her right fist into her open left palm.

Tsunade blinked once, and the bed was empty. Shaking her head with a sigh, the Slug Sannin walked out the room at a much slower pace. She entered the hallway just in time to hear a high-pitched shriek followed by a, "I CAN'T DECIDE IF IT'S INDECENCY OR NAIVETY, BUT YOU IDIOTS NEVER FAIL TO ASTOUND ME EITHER WAY!" that was almost drowned out by Naruko's laughter. Said Genin shortly exited Room 207 after that, still giggling uncontrollably. She was tailed by her Uchiha teammate and the pink-haired girl Tsunade had first seen by Sasuke's bedside when she and Naruko had entered to heal the boy.

"Right," the pink-haired girl cleared her throat, "Kakashi-sensei." Apparently being the only child capable of respect on their Genin team, she turned to Tsunade and bowed. "Tsunade-sama, my name is Sakura Haruno, and I am on Genin Team 7 along with these two idiots—" Here she dope-slapped said idiots while still bowing, "Thank you for healing Sasuke. I hope Naruko didn't cause you too much trouble on your journey." Sakura ignored Naruko's indignant cry of, "What are you talking about, I'm a _delight_ to be around!" and automatically placed her hand over the blonde's mouth. Not a second later, she did the same to Sasuke, cutting off his playfully snarky comeback halfway through.

This only served to further intensify Tsunade's amusement at Team 7's dynamics. "Right... don't worry about it, Sakura. Healing Sasuke and Kakashi when I came back was part of the shrimp's bargain. As for the journey... well, Naruko wasn't as bad as she could've been, I'm sure." Both females ignored said girl's second cry of indignation, which was successfully muffled by Sakura's hand.

"Now," Tsunade clapped her hands once, "shall we go visit Kakashi?"

"Yes please," Sakura smiled before grabbing the back of both her teammates, and dragging them along behind the Slug Sannin. She didn't even turn around when she calmly reprimanded, "Stop making faces." Sakura rolled her eyes at Sasuke's snicker that only confirmed she was right. "You too, Sasuke." This time, it was Naruko's snicker that confirmed she was right, yet again. ' _Why am I the one stuck with an immature teammate who loves to rub off on all of us? Even our sensei is weird. And of course, the_ one person _I thought I could always depend on to be mature just_ loves _to get back at Naruko._ '

"Hey 'Nai-nee, Gai, Asu," Naruko greeted with a wave of her hand.

Sakura cleared her throat, "Kurenai- _sensei_ , Gai- _sensei_ , Asuma- _sensei_ ," she greeted pointedly. Sasuke merely grunted, tilting his head at the three Jonin. Sakura sighed; someone still needed lessons on manners.

Naruko silently slipped out of Sakura's grip and walked over to Kakashi's bedside, sitting down gently on his left. "He's been like this since Pervy Sage and I left?" she asked in a small voice.

Kurenai moved forward to wrap her arms around the blonde; something about her tone made her seem so vulnerable in that moment. "A little bit after," she murmured, "but he's under the same genjutsu as Sasuke was. And since he's here now, I'd say Tsunade-sama did a fine job on him... so Kakashi will be fine. Don't worry."

"She's right," Tsunade confirmed as she placed a glowing hand on Kakashi's forehead. "He's had to stay under this particular genjutsu a little longer than Sasuke, but he'll be fine regardless." Her hand stayed for a moment on Kakashi's head, even as the green glow faded, and then raised her eyebrow at the dark-haired beauty. "Remind me how he got like this again? To be taken down by two insurgents... and here I thought Kakashi Hatake was a genius."

Kurenai sweatdropped a little. "U-Um, he came to mine and Asuma's aid against two Akatsuki members after Itachi dispelled the Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death I cast on him—"

Naruko's face went blank. "I'm sorry, please repeat, that did not compute." Kurenai opened her mouth to repeat herself, but the blonde cut her off; "You used a _genjutsu_ on _Itachi Uchiha?"_ she all but shrieked. "As in, the _Uchiha prodigy?_ The guy who awakened his Sharingan at age _eight_ , and his Mangekyō Sharingan when he was just a _thirteen-year-old boy?"_ At Kurenai's somewhat sheepish nod, Naruko threw her hands up in the air and demanded, "Were you panicking or did all your brain cells just decide to spontaneously self-combust?"

Kurenai didn't even look offended — if anything, she looked resigned — but Sasuke was another matter. "And what would _you_ have done?"

Without missing a beat, Naruko answered, "Kicked him in the groin and shoved a Rasengan in his mouth. He's skinny enough to warrant someone force-feeding him a heavy snack."

Sasuke's mouth fell open while Kurenai shook her head in exasperation. "Then why didn't you do that when he and the shark-dude came to your hotel room?"

"Because you were an impulsive idiot who rushed at him with a Chidori," Naruko answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Besides, you wanted to talk to him, so I stayed out of your way."

Sasuke huffed and was about to retort when a soft groan from the bed drew all of their attention to the formerly-comatose Jonin.

"Baa-chan, would it be okay if I hit him?" Naruko asked with a silent plea in her eyes. Tsunade pursed her lips with a contemplative look before regretfully shaking her head, a playful sparkle in her whiskey-brown eyes. The younger blonde sighed but restrained herself until Kakashi sat up, whereupon Naruko instantly launched herself at her brother to throw her arms around his neck. "You _idiot_ ," she hissed into his ear. " _Absolute_ _moron_. I hate you for worrying me like that."

"I would be insulted if I didn't know you cared so much," Kakashi grunted, wrapping his right arm around his little sister before lowering his voice, "I'm sorry."

"You should be," Naruko muttered before pulling back, keeping her hand on his shoulder. "Are you feeling okay now? And no lying, or I _will_ whack your head, no matter what baa-chan says."

"I have a little headache..." Kakashi admitted begrudgingly.

"And that's my cue." Sakura moved in to Kakashi's other side and pressed a glowing hand to her sensei's temple. Naruko smiled as Kakashi's face relaxed, and smiled at her in silent thanks. The pinkette shook her head with a smile as she removed her hand, and then gave Kakashi her own hug. "You can be as bad as Naruko sometimes, sensei."

"Ouch," Kakashi sighed, wrapping his left arm around his other female Genin pupil. "Again — I would be insulted if I didn't know my little gremlins cared about me so much."

Two out of three said gremlins then turned their eyes almost predatorily on the third — Sasuke stared back uncomprehendingly before he instantly started to back away, shaking his head. "No... absolutely not."

"Heh, just get over there, Uchiha," Tsunade grinned, slapping Sasuke's back and sending the boy careening over to sprawl unceremoniously onto Kakashi's lap. Both his teammates and even his sensei destroyed any chance of escape as the girls pounced on him like vultures to drag him into the group hug while Kakashi held them all together with an iron grip, his signature eye-smile on his masked face all the while.

"Okay, we love each other. Are we done yet?" Sasuke demanded after a second or two. The lack of response had him putting up a weak struggle for a second or two — this only succeeded in the tightening of the group hug — before the Uchiha finally slumped; contrary to popular belief, he did know defeat when it stared him in the face. And while he could be "stupidly bull-headed", as Sakura was so fond of saying, Sasuke knew his team could out-stubborn him any day, especially when they ganged up on him. He learned it was better to just give in whenever it concerned any member of Team 7 — especially one Naruko Uzumaki.

Kakashi eyed his now-still Genin for a moment before looking up at Tsunade. "I suppose it was your doing that I'm awake...?"

"Can't you just say "thank you" like a normal person?" Kurenai grinned, reaching over to ruffle his gravity-defying hair. Kakashi gave an "Uchiha grunt" as response; Asuma burst into laughter while Kurenai sighed.

Gai simply beamed at his Eternal Rival. "Ah, you're just too cool, my rival. Tsunade-sama, would you please take a look at my pupil, Rock Lee, now?"

"Oh, right, there was a third one," Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Right. Let's get to it."

Sakura scrambled off Kakashi's bed and darted out the door. "He's this way!" she called behind her. Gai, Tsunade and Shizune exchanged looks before following the excited pinkette.

Her team exchanged bemused looks; "When did she get so close to Lee?" Naruko wondered out loud. She received two identical clueless looks paired with simultaneous indifferent shrugs in response. The blonde smacked her palm onto her head, "I swear you're half-Uchiha, Kaka-nii..."

"Oh, Naruko," Asuma paused, "Ino told me... that Hinata told her... that Neji told her... no wait, I think it was Neji who told Tenten who told Hinata who told Ino... or was it—"

"Get to the point, Asu," Naruko deadpanned.

The Sarutobi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Right. Well, since you're back, if you feel up to it, could you pop over to the Hyuuga Compound?"

Naruko blinked blankly before smacking her fist into her palm. "Right! Of course, the Caged Bird Seal. Man, I completely forgot about it." She pulled out her sketchpad and flicked through a few pages. "I didn't actually finish it since I was kinda caught up in a bet with Tsunade-baa-chan, but there was something in otou-san's fūinjutsu journal that caught my eye... aha! Here it is! Now if I can just..."

"Oh boy," Asuma muttered playfully under his breath, "here it comes — the Fūinjutsu Master." He got Kurenai's elbow to his ribs for that comment.

"Otou-san was amazing..." Naruko breathed as she tore out a strip of paper from her sketchpad and laid it directly beside a diagram at the back of the journal. "Well would you look at that... it's a perfect fit."

"Please enlighten us mere mortals," Sasuke drawled. A grunt sounded when Kakashi planted his hand to duck Sasuke's head, ruffling his spikes in the process. The Uchiha swatted at the Jonin's hands with a mild glare, hands coming up to cover his hair almost protectively. Kakashi simply eye-smiled at him.

"Right," Naruko rolled her eyes. "Long story short: Pervy Sage told me how otou-san attempted to undo the Caged Bird Seal at Hiashi Hyuuga's request, but was told to stop halfway through. I thought there was something different about his ideas compared to mine, but they were similar enough to his train of thought when recreating the Hiraishin that I could interpret them. See, the thing about the Hyuuga's juinjutsu is that it is intricately intertwined with the mind, which was the part I couldn't figure out how to get around. I could theoretically unravel the juinjutsu using this method, but it would cause a great deal of pain, and I want to avoid that. But that was one of the first problems otou-san identified and tackled before anything else, so when if I were to take out around half of my seal and replace it with otou-san's..." As she spoke, Naruko copied the combined seal onto her last copy of Neji's Caged Bird Seal, and watched in barely-contained glee as it slowly eroded away.

"Yatta! It works!" she cheered, throwing up her brush in excitement as she bounced off the bed. Asuma's hand snatched up to catch said brush, but before he could hand it back to the blonde she had already grabbed Kurenai's hand and was running out of the room. "Nii-san, teme, you two behave for Asu! And stay in bed unless baa-chan says so, otherwise you'll have to deal with me when I get back!" Naruko grinned to herself when she heard Asuma's bellowing laughter; no doubt the Sarutobi was laughing at the Uchiha and Hatake's identical blanched faces.

She was distracted from her thoughts when she saw a familiar pale-eyed heiress exiting a nearby grocery store. "Hina!" she all but hollered, almost startling the poor girl into dropping her brown paper bag.

"A-Ah, Naruko!" Hinata was cut off with a yelp when she was suddenly tugged along to join in on the impromptu sprint along with her friend and her sensei. "K-Kurenai-sensei, w-what's going on?"

"Uh," Kurenai smiled sheepishly, "Naruko's dragging us to your house, I think. I mean, I'm pretty sure she figured out how to undo the Caged Bird Seal, so... deductive reasoning?"

"Really?" Hinata gasped in delight, hugging her paper bag to her chest tighter. "Naruko, that's amazing." The heiress suddenly giggled, "So all you have to do is draw the removal formula on Neji-nii-san's forehead and bada-bing bada-boom, he's juinjutsu-free?"

Naruko raised an eyebrow, "Now just _who_ in the world are you quoting?"

"Oh, no one in particular," Hinata almost sing-songed.

Naruko shook her head with a small smile. "Well, no, not exactly. In layman's terms, as a person, Neji has chakra. Paper doesn't. So I would have to manually unravel the seal from his forehead. Oh, here we are~"

"Wait, Naruko, I don't think you should just—"

Hinata was unfortunately ignored by her overly-exuberant friend slamming open her cousin's bedroom door as she shouted, "Neji Hyuuga, I'm here to release you from your cage!" Kurenai turned around with her back to the open room, pinching the bridge of her nose while Hinata suddenly went bright red with a soft " _Eep!"_ and ducked behind the wall while Naruko's face comically dropped of all expression.

"Do you _mind?"_ Neji snapped, glare already in place to cover up his embarrassment.

A smirk steadily spread across Naruko's whiskered face. "Having fun with your girlfriend, _Neji-kun?"_

"Tenten is _not_ my girlfriend, and have _you_ not heard of the word "privacy" before—"

"W-Wait, Neji," Tenten waved her hands with a placating smile on her face, "didn't you hear her first sentence? Naruko just said she was here to... um... release you from your cage?"

Neji instantly clammed up, turning intense lavender eyes on the Uzumaki. "I-Is... is that true?"

Naruko simply grinned, holding up a piece of paper that, metaphorically speaking, depicted the key to Neji's cage. "Let me show you and you can decide for yourself." Inviting herself in, Naruko knelt down opposite the two teammates and reached for Neji's hitai-ate. The Hyuuga boy stayed perfectly still as Naruko copied his juinjutsu onto a blank paper talisman, and watched closely as she painted over it with light, sure strokes before sitting back. Tenten, Neji, Hinata and Kurenai watched in awestruck fascination as the seal glowed green before slowly lifting from off the slip into air and eroding into nothing.

Neji slowly lifted his eyes to meet Naruko's; she held his gaze calmly, a hidden question in her azure-blue depths. Neji stared at her for a moment more before abruptly dropping his head. "Thank you, Naruko-san."

Taken aback, Naruko blinked at his bowed head before shaking her own. "Don't worry about it, Neji. And please drop the honorific — I am both younger than you and of a lower status. Now, if you would like to begin the removal process, please lie down somewhere comfortable."

Neji stood up and nodded at her, something like gratitude in his pale eyes, and then went over to lie down on his futon.

"Um, should I... go?" Tenten asked tentatively.

Naruko raised an eyebrow at Neji's sudden stiffening. "No, actually," she said slowly. "I think it might help Neji if you stay. Go sit on his left," she instructed politely as she knelt by Neji's right. Tenten mimicked her position, settling down by Neji's head. "This may be a little different than what it looks like on paper," she warned, "but the effects will be the same, so don't worry."

"Why isn't it the same?" Tenten asked curiously, watching as Naruko deftly painted the removal formula over the Caged Bird Seal.

"Like I told Hina-chan and 'Nai-nee, Neji has chakra, and paper doesn't. The purpose of testing it on paper was to make sure the seal did as it was designed to do — that is, deconstruct the Caged Bird Seal. Because this particular juinjutsu is intricately intertwined with the wearer's chakra, for the anti-seal to work, it has to interact with Neji's chakra network. That's where I come in — but I just find the starter thread and get the process going, and the anti-juinjutsu takes care of the rest for me."

Tenten sweatdropped a little. "I'm not sure I... um, well, I didn't understand anything that you just said."

"Neither did we!" Hinata and Kurenai chorused cheerfully from the background.

"Think of fūinjutsu as a puzzle," Naruko suggested helpfully. "Picture it as a puzzle that with only one piece missing. To undo a seal, you need to find the missing puzzle piece. That's what I did by creating my own removal method. Or, in Neji's case, I found the key to his cage," Naruko grinned impishly, ignoring Kurenai's exasperated sigh. "But when it comes to actually undoing seals that are as complex as the Hyuuga juinjutsu, I have to think of it as a spiderweb." Naruko laid a hand on Neji's forehead and carefully probed about with her chakra. "All spiderwebs have a beginning thread, and the same concept applies to fūinjutsu. So once you find it..." A triumphant grin grew on Naruko's whiskered face as the area beneath her palm glowed lime-green, and then she lifted her hand to hover an inch or two above Neji's head, revealing a trail of illuminated ink characters connecting her palm to Neji's forehead. "You can "unravel" it."

Once all the characters had floated off Neji's skin, with a snappy rotative movement of her wrist, the characters flew into her palm. Opening her hand, Naruko revealed the Caged Bird Seal was inscribed in her palm. Naruko frowned contemplatively at it as her cheeks puffed out, and sent some chakra to return the remnants of the Caged Bird Seal to their ethereal state. Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw her friend blowing embers out of her mouth instead of air, burning the characters into nothing; shaking her head, she chalked it up to it just being another Naruko-thing.

"Amazing," Tenten breathed, eyes wide. "I never realized fūinjutsu could be illustrated with such regular things. I've never used it for anything other than sealing my tools."

"Oh Kami, another fūinjutsu nut," Hinata whispered playfully to Kurenai, who lifted her hand to cover her mouth in order to hide her growing smile.

"Fūinjutsu has so many more uses than just sealing," Naruko grinned. Turning to the Hyuuga, she commanded, "Neji, try opening your eyes."

The skin around Neji's eyes crinkled a little before his pale irises were revealed. Slowly, he sat up, his eyes roving around the room until they finally settled on Tenten. "So... how do I look?"

Tenten smiled at him, squeezing the hand that had somehow found its way into hers sometime during the removal process. "Flawless."

"Did Neji just make a joke or did I get transported to an alternate dimension?" Naruko hissed to Hinata, leaning back. Hinata giggled into her palm that was pressed hard into her mouth. "And I might have something wrong with both my eyes and my brain, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I am almost ten billion percent sure they're... _flirting_."

"Ah, young love," Kurenai sighed teasingly.

"You're one to talk, sensei," Hinata said mildly, smiling to herself. "How's Asuma-sensei, by the way?"

Naruko fell over giggling at Kurenai's flabbergasted expression as she floundered for a response. Who knew Hinata could be so devious? Finally, Naruko took pity on the dark-haired beauty and turned the spotlight over to Neji and Tenten; "Alright, listen up you two lovebirds, I have rules for you, Neji. First: try not to use your Byakugan for at least three hours minimum. Holding off using it until tomorrow would be best. This is just a precautionary measure, but I'm fairly confident of the "no side effects" thing. Second: if you start getting headaches or have trouble activating your dojutsu or anything of the kind, come to me or Tsunade-baa-chan immediately. And third... yeah nope, that's all I got. Any questions?"

Neji shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. "No. Thank you, Naruko."

"Yeah, thanks," Tenten smiled, coming over to hug the blonde. "And don't worry, I will _personally_ make sure Neji doesn't use his Byakugan until tomorrow."

Naruko grinned as Neji instantly blanched; a woman's wrath was nothing to scoff at, and Neji had apparently already learned that lesson — and thoroughly. Now that Naruko thought about it, Tenten was a perfect match for Neji; stubborn, not afraid to speak out and strong-willed, she was a spitfire through and through. She balanced out Neji pretty well, and since Tenten was his teammate, she was able to deal with the Hyuuga stoicism better than most girls would, and was obviously more than capable of taking him down a peg or two when his stubborn pride became too much.

Smirking, Naruko leaned in to whisper into Tenten's ear, "Good luck with him. I know you two will be very happy together."

She left a bright-red kunoichi behind as she swiftly exited Neji's room, dragging a madly-giggling Hinata along with her. Kurenai followed them out, her lips twisted in amusement. Naruko had at first planned to drag her best friend over to Ichiraku's to celebrate the highly successful removal of the Caged Bird Seal — because it also meant the other branch members could have their seals removed — but something caught her eye. Something very large, very inviting, and very... _clean_. And in her opinion, it wasn't supposed to be clean at all.

"Ne, Hina-chan, wanna spar?" Naruko asked with a mischievous undertone, her eyes lingering on the Hyuuga private training ground. ' _After all... it's_ much _too pristine, and_ definitely _due for a little... roughening up._ '

"You just want to destroy the training ground, don't you?" Hinata asked flatly once she saw what had caught her friend's attention. Naruko's beam was answer enough. Hinata hesitated, "I don't know... Father and the elders most likely wouldn't be too happy if they were to find out this training ground had been turned into a crater..." Hinata turned and sweatdropped at the puppy-dog-eyes she was instantly subjected to. Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, the Hyuuga heiress shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Oh, why the hell not. What do I care, anyway?"

"Yosh!" Naruko pumped her fist into the air and practically bound over to the far right-hand side of the private arena. "Hina, hurry hurry hurry! Taijutsu only! You can use your Jyuuken, of course and 'Nai-nee, you can be our proctor— uh, I mean, adult supervision!"

Sensei and student exchanged amused looks as they walked together into the arena grounds before separating to their respective places — Hinata standing opposite Naruko and Kurenai by the sidelines.

"You just want to see how your Kyuubi-fire taijutsu style fares against the Jyuuken again, don't you?" Hinata laughed at the sight of her childish friend hopping from foot to foot in excitement. ' _Oh dear Kami, she's as hyperactive as a three-year-old on Christmas Day who ate nothing but sugar all morning, afternoon and night..._ and _Christmas Eve_ ,' Hinata sweatdropped slightly before remembering something; "Say, you still need to find a name for that, don't you?"

"Yeah," Naruko pouted before brightening up. "But for now... threetwoonelet'sgo!"

"Naruko!" Hinata shouted in both alarm and delight as she leapt back to dodge Naruko's maniac and nonsensical attacks. "No fūinjutsu!" she declared strictly, skipping back a step or two so she could safely activate her Byakugan and thus begin her counterattack. "But of course, Naru- _chan_ , you are free to be as unpredictable as you like!" Hinata added laughingly.

"Got it!" Naruko grinned widely, launching herself forward, propelled by the flames surrounding her fists and ankles. Hinata, smiling just as widely as Naruko, leapt forward to meet her halfway.

Kurenai smiled to herself; Hinata had never looked happier.

* * *

The same could not be said for Sakura.

"I'll be straight with you." Tsunade's voice was both firm and void of emotion, her hand pressed against Lee's curved back. "Give up being a shinobi."

A soft gasp slipped past Sakura's mouth, and she saw Lee's eyes widen in shock. Even Gai had a look of disbelief on his face. Tonton gave a soft " _Buhi..._ " under her breath.

"T-Tsunade-sama, don't joke like that," Gai said at last, attempting a smile. He failed miserably.

Tsunade's brow furrowed further. "There are numerous bone fragments in the area around most of his important nerves. Moreover, they are deeply embedded. Lee is not physically capable of carrying out the missions of a shinobi. Even if I were to operate—"

"Don't be fooled, Lee!" Gai burst out. "This woman is an impostor! You've transformed yourself with a Henge, haven't you? Just who the heck are you?" The self-proclaimed Green Beast of Konoha was about to go on, but was forced to settle when Shizune laid a restraining hand on his shoulder and shook her head sadly.

' _No... this has to be some sort of sick joke..._ ' Sakura had her hands clasped to her mouth as she tried not to let her tears fall. Why should Lee have to see her crying, when he was the one who was forced to give up his career, his life, his dream?

"Don't I have any... chance?" Lee's voice was soft — soft enough that Sakura could barely hear it.

"There is no one besides me who is capable of doing the surgery, and it would take too much time," Tsunade answered plainly. "Furthermore, there is a huge risk. The probability of such a surgery being successful is about 50% at best, and if it fails... you'll die. It's better that you give up being a shinobi and look for a different path."

"Rock..." Sakura closed her eyes. "Tsunade-sama, Gai-sensei, Shizune-san." She felt the adults turn to her direction. "Could you please leave us alone to talk?" It wasn't very respectful to ask that of the one person capable of healing Lee, or to ask his sensei to leave, but Sakura needed to talk to him. All of this information... she couldn't stay silent, but if she stayed she might end up saying something she'd regret. But for the most part, Sakura needed to know what was going on in her childhood friend's head. There was no way he was ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Tsunade looked at her for a long moment before nodding. "Shizune, I want you to come with me to see sensei. There's something I'll need you to do with his rehabilitation, and I'm pretty sure I won't have time to do that once the old farts swamp me with all that typical Hokage crap, much less have time for myself..."

"Tsunade-sama, you shouldn't call them "old farts"—"

"...and if that old war hawk says _one more thing_ about "Konoha's secret ace", I'm going to show him exactly where he can shove his arguments and I sure as hell am not going to be the one who will have to surgically remove it from his ass!"

"Hai, hai, Tsunade-sama... please stop struggling, Gai-san."

"Shizune, let me gooooooo!"

Had it been any other situation, Sakura might have laughed at the legendary Sannin's bluntness, unprecedented lack of restraint and foul mouth, coupled with Shizune's apparent-resignation to her master's tendency to speak her mind — and then some. Sakura internally shook herself; this was hardly the time to indulge in entertainment. The pinkette waited until the footsteps were no longer able to be heard, and then she pushed herself off the corner wall she had been leaning on to make her way towards Lee.

Sweat was trickling down Lee's face, and his mouth was closing and opening like a fish as he sucked in air like his life depended on it. Well, it kind of did... Sakura shook that thought away; it was not an appropriate time for jokes, Naruko's tendency to do just that be damned. Seeing that Lee was grabbing his spandex suit to pull it back over himself, her hand automatically reached to grab his. "Let me..."

"I can do it," the boy answered roughly, snatching his hand back.

Sakura blinked, her brow crinkling in worry. "I didn't mean to upset you, Ro— um, Lee," she said quietly. "I know you can do it... I just wanted to help you." She frowned when Lee still didn't raise his eyes. "Hey..." She sat down on the bed, ducking her head so she could see Lee's face. "Stop looking so down. That's Sasuke's thing, not yours." Sakura couldn't help smirking at the mental picture of Sasuke's irate face, if he were present to hear that comment.

The smirk fell off her face when she saw Lee's lips moving, but heard no sound. Frowning lightly, Sakura inched a little closer. His lips froze. Sakura hesitated before gently laying her hand on his knee. "You... you can talk to me, you know? It's been a few years since we've been together, but I haven't changed enough that you wouldn't recognize me, I promise. I may look a little different, but inside I'm still the same girl you met seven years ago. All want is to help my first friend... just like he helped me so many years ago. So I guess the real question is: will you let me?"

Lee looked up at that, and was met with a warm smile paired with gentle beryl eyes. He glanced down at the hand covering his knee, and then back at the owner, and slowly let his head dip in a shallow nod. Sakura's smile brightened, and she waited patiently for him to begin.

"When I first became a Genin, I revealed my dream... my aspiration — to prove I could be a great ninja, even when I couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Neji laughed at me then, but I meant what I said. At that time, Gai-sensei told me, "If you act with passion and compete with rivals, you can become a fine ninja". And that in order to do so, it'd take effort. I was happy to hear that because while in the Academy, no one — not one friend or teacher — said that kind of thing. Well... that's not true... there was one. But she wasn't in my class."

Sakura blinked. ' _Me...?'_

"She put me at ease and let me be myself... she opened up my eyes when I was unsure of myself and made me realize that all I had to do was try my best. We helped each other, and even if she wasn't supposed to learn the things I was learning, she tried anyway. When I complained that I couldn't match the efforts of the others' natural talents, she just laughed and said I had a natural talent for effort."

Sakura went red, ' _I didn't_ mean _to laugh... stupid Past-Sakura making stupid puns..._ '

"That was when I learnt the importance of believing in my own strength. I wanted to protect her with that strength. It was because of her that I managed to graduate, if only just. But by the time I graduated, I hadn't seen her for a while. But Gai-sensei, his words reminded me of her. So I continued to try my best and even looked to Gai-sensei as a role model... but when I... S-Sakura-chan..."

The pinkette's eyes widened when she saw tears start sliding down Lee's face; her body moved on its own.

"But... this one time... even if I try my best... and even if I believe in myself, there's nothing in the world I can do. Sakura-chan... please tell me... why did this kind of thing happen only to me? And I... what should I do? Please, tell me!"

By now, Lee was all but bawling into her shoulder. Sakura's eyes glittered with the same pain she knew Lee was going through; she tightened her embrace. When she at last spoke, her voice was gentle and empathetic. "You tried to become a great ninja by relying only on taijutsu... until now, that's all you had. It must be so painful for you, now that it seems all your dreams and wishes are being cruelly taken away. Lee..." Sakura opened her eyes and clenched her jaw in tandem to her tightening grip on the boy's shoulders. "If you want to be free of that pain, you'll have to prepare yourself."

She felt Lee stiffen. "Do you mean... prepare to give up my dreams?"

Sakura shook her head. "If you lose your dreams, you will undergo pain even greater than what you feel now. Lee, the surgery is a fifty-fifty gamble — you could live, or you could die. But I know your surgery will be a success because you have worked hard all the way through. You have the power to bring your own future in the heavens. I know this is another tough time in your life, but this time... I won't leave you alone. You had to have hated me at one point for... for leaving you. I don't blame you, and I'm sorry I did. But this time, I want to be by your side. I will do whatever it takes to raise your survival rate, even if it's just by 1%. Because I want to help you the same way you helped me... that's how it was for so long, wasn't it?"

"Sakura-chan..." Lee was the one who shook his head this time. "I never hated you. I wasn't even angry. I was just... sad. Sad that I lost a precious friend. But I always hoped that we'd meet again and when we did, I'd be the kind of person you'd be... _proud_... to be friends with."

"You are too forgiving, Lee," Sakura sighed, resting her chin on Lee's head, which was lodged in the crook of her neck. "I don't deserve that. I don't deserve you... not in the least. But I _am_ proud to be your friend, Lee. And I will continue to be. _"Hand in hand, arm in arm, friend to friend, side by side"_ — cheesy as that sounds, that was our promise, wasn't it? Our promise of a lifetime. So in the one in a thousand— no, the one in a _million_ chance that something goes wrong..."

Lee's eyes widened when he felt the warmth surrounding him pull away and disappear, only to be replaced by a single point on his head as Sakura pressed her forehead against his. But despite her words — _"I will die with you."_ — she was smiling, with not an ounce of hesitance or fear in her eyes; there was nothing but sincerity... and did he dare to think of that partially-hidden emotion as... affection?

"S-Sakura-chan..." Lee let out a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding. "Thank you. But I can't let you throw away your life on the chance that I don't survive the surgery."

Sakura leaned back, smiling just as brightly at him. "Good — so we agree that nothing's going to go wrong, then."

Lee blinked at the pinkette, who was smiling as bright as the sun behind her that gave off a halo-like illumination of her face. For a moment, Lee wondered if he was dreaming — _dear Kami, he hoped he wasn't_ — because what would such a girl like Sakura Haruno, an impossibly beautiful, sweet, gentle and yet strong girl, be doing with someone like him?

Lee nearly jerked when he remembered when he had, in fact, asked that question once, many years ago. She had not give him a direct answer, but... _"Don't do that. Don't put yourself down in front of me, because I won't stand for when people make fun of my friends, but when it's them making fun of themselves... that's another matter entirely. Rock, you are... well, you are my rock, literally and figuratively. You are my first friend, and you've helped me in so many ways that you don't even realize, and all the paper in the world wouldn't be enough if I were to try and write it all down. So don't ever say "someone like me". That implies you are something to be dismissed or disregarded easily, and you are not. You aren't "someone", or "no one". You are you, and there is not one hair on you that I would rearrange because I love you the way you are. And even when we grow up and we change with the the world around us, that will be the one thing you'll always know to be true and unchanging, okay?"_

For the first time since hearing Tsunade's prognosis, Rock Lee smiled, just as bright and hopeful as his glowing cherry blossom.

* * *

A week and a half later, Team 7 met up in the same training ground where they had undertaken their first "survival exercise" and became a real Genin team. At this point, Sasuke and Kakashi were back to their usual standards, and Kakashi had taken a page out of Jiraiya's book and gave Sasuke a lecture on the background theory of the Chidori. Sasuke soaked it up like a sponge and mentally took notes on how to improve his sensei's original jutsu. On the other hand, Naruko left her ninjutsu progression behind as she was called away every second day by Hinata, Neji, or even Tenten to come to the Hyuuga Compound and secretly remove the Caged Bird Seal. By now, she had to have freed at least a third of the Hyuuga branch house, and despite her protests, all of the men, women and even children insisted they were now indebted to her. As for Sakura, unlike the fūinjutsu master who could be found almost everywhere in the village, the medic-in-training had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth during the past ten days. It would be a while yet until Team 7 found out that Sakura had been busy with — after much begging and bargaining — helping Tsunade Senju study — _Shizune's shriek of "Tsunade-sama is_ studying?!" _followed by an even louder_ "Concentrate?!" _could be heard all over the village, and had a certain blonde Genin cackling until she was wheezing for breath_ — to raise Lee's chances of survival in a risky surgery. Once that was done, Sakura would help with the surgery preparations, but only if Lee's survival rate rose high enough to satisfy Tsunade.

But for now, Team 7 put all their activities, secret or public, behind them and focused on being a three-man squad again. It felt like an awfully long time since they had last been together — just three Genin and their Jonin sensei, with no village or island to save and no invasion to deal with.

"Alrighty," Kakashi eye-smiled at his team. "Now that everyone's here and dandy, we're going to have a nice little teamwork exercise."

"Again?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Not to toot our own horns or anything... but you do realize that Team 7 is probably _the_ Genin team in terms of teamwork aside from Team 10, and only because they are the sixteenth generation InoShikaCho?"

"I wasn't finished," Kakashi practically sang as he pulled out two noise-cancelling headphones and two blindfolds. "You will be fighting against me, but handicapped. That means you have to completely and totally rely on each other just to move."

"I assume I'll be getting a blindfold," Sasuke sighed in resignation as he took the offered cloth. It was a strange task that seemed impossible, no doubt, but by now he had sadly gotten used to his sensei's eccentricity. The very thought of how strange his life had now turned out to be made the Uchiha want to cry — figuratively, of course.

"And it's chakra enforced, so even if you activate your Sharingan unconsciously, you won't be able to see anything," Kakashi confirmed. "I want you to work on giving out messages or orders with your hand signs. You're good at reading, but not so much at doing. Sakura, you're going to be deafened because I want you to work on lip-reading," he handed a pair of headphones to the pinkette, "and Naruko... you're both."

"Why am I both?" Naruko frowned as she caught the objects thrown her way.

"Because you subconsciously rely on your enhanced sight and hearing," Kakashi answered flippantly. "So you're going to work on sensing chakra signatures while completely blinded _and_ deafened."

"Don't worry," Sakura smiled, headphones around her neck. "I'll make sure you don't fall into any stupid traps."

Naruko narrowed her eyes. ' _Hmm... I could just use the chakra pulse_.' She smirked to herself as she tied the cloth securely over her eyes. ' _But where's the fun in that?'_

When she was a child and had to move around her cave-house in the dark, she discovered that if she manipulated it correctly, chakra could be used in a way similar to echolocation. Small waves of chakra would find out the position of objects, inanimate or human, and then it would "report" back to her by forming "images" once the chakra brushed over everything in the vicinity. Naruko figured it was mostly due to being a sensory type — thank Uzumaki genes — and as such she was more sensitive to chakra in general. The images were vague and she only used it so she wouldn't bump into anything, however if she closed her eyes and concentrated, she would get something that looked like an oil painting. It was particularly handy when preparing for pranks or, in a more practical mindset, during missions.

The moment Naruko fell into a world of darkness, she sent out a wave of chakra to get the basic locations of her teammates. Sakura and Sasuke stood still, letting the barely-noticeable chakra wash over them. The first hundred times Naruko had used it, they hadn't noticed and constantly moved around, making it tricky for her to discern clear images of their surroundings. It was only after Naruko had the foresight to train them in their sensory skills in preparation of the Chuunin Exams did they noticed the quiet, constant chakra pulses. After explaining the mini-jutsu, both Genin understood that in order to get a clear image, they should preferably remain still to avoid disrupting the echolocation. Neither were at that level of performing it yet, however Sakura was getting closer. It probably had something to do with her precise chakra control.

Kakashi looked at his handicapped students. "Alright, I'm going to go hide now, and you have to find me. After that, engage in combat. And yes, I realize this may be tricky, but each of you have a distinct advantage over each other which should cancel out the disadvantages. Learn to piece it together."

Sasuke, who was the only one who could hear, nodded at his direction, and then turned back to where his teammates were still standing. ' _I hope I don't mess this up..._ ' He tilted his head toward where Sakura's distinct breathing pattern was, and started signing to her. Sakura looked amused at one point — not that he would've seen it — and responded verbally. Sasuke paused as his lips twisted into smirk; / _Stop shouting. Your voice keeps rising with every word._ /

Sakura blushed. "C-Can you hear me?" she spoke as quietly as she dared. Sasuke gave her a brief nod. Naruko was already walking over to them, though very carefully.

Naruko reached out to grab Sasuke's arm, causing the Uchiha to turn to her. "Kakashi's hiding in the trees," she said simply. She spoke slowly, since she couldn't hear herself speaking and was unable to discern if she was speaking comprehensibly. It was also for Sakura's benefit, since the pinkette was supposed to be working on lip-reading.

"One would think _you_ of all people would tap it out with morse code," Sasuke muttered under his breath, though secretly he was glad he didn't have to decipher it.

"I read that," Sakura said happily as she moved over to her blind teammates. "Okay, so I'm going to tell you the plan, Sasuke, and you're going to tap it onto Naruko's arm... unless she can see us with the echolocation jutsu?"

"I have to really focus to see the specifics," Naruko answered verbally after Sasuke relayed it by tapping it onto her arm. "And I think it'd be a little more fun if I didn't have to use it all the time."

Sasuke snorted — leave it to Naruko to omit the most useful skill just to make it "more fun". He reached out and felt Sakura's hand grab his. "Okay, so we're all here, we got Kakashi's location and Sakura's forming a plan. What—" Sasuke abruptly cut himself off when he realized both of his teammates were deaf, but then realized he had no need to since Sakura was supposed to be lip-reading him. The Uchiha almost facepalmed, hearing Sakura's soft giggles.

Sighing to himself, Sasuke tapped out a question on Naruko's arm, and she nodded. "Naruko's going to lead us to Kakashi," Sasuke told Sakura, who tilted her head in confusion with a frown before her eyes lit up in realization and she nodded happily.

"Kakashi's probably going easy on us with his hiding spot," Sakura said quietly, and Sasuke had to agree with her. Despite how sadistic Team 7's sensei could be sometimes, and how high his expectations for his team were, Kakashi wasn't unfair. He would go easy on them for the first two or three rounds of a new exercise and then ramp it up when they just got used to it.

And speaking of the Jonin sensei — Kakashi watched with intrigue as his three Genin walked to where his Shadow Clone was, sticking very closely together. It seemed Naruko couldn't discern a Shadow Clone from the real thing, but the fact that she had so easily picked up on its location in the first place was impressive. Sasuke was leading Naruko along as he listened to Sakura speak quietly in his ear — at least the Uchiha was better at listening to instructions than he was during the initial formation of Team 7.

The three split off into a triangular formation around the Shadow Clone, who was leaning on a tree and reading a book. The first to attack was Sakura, creating a loud crash and causing a large tremor to run through the ground — signals for each of her teammates. Seeing as Sasuke was blind, his hearing would've heightened to accommodate for lack of sight, and anyone would be able to hear that crash. As for Naruko, the tremors through the ground would give her an idea of the direction to run at, since she wasn't very clear on Kakashi's location.

Sasuke's movements were a little jerky as he continuously split his attention between fighting Kakashi and listening to Sakura. At first glance, he appeared to be utilizing his mediocre sensory skills to avoid clashing with Sakura while cornering Kakashi with every move, but when Kakashi took another look, Sasuke's dodges were almost instinctive; the Jonin's eyebrows rose when it suddenly became clear that the only reason Sasuke was able to move out of Sakura's way in the kind of fluidity that he did was because he was intimately attuned to the girl's chakra signature. This outcome really wasn't a surprise — after all, his three Genin did spend time with each other nearly 24/7. And speaking of Sakura; she was a little distracted and so allowed herself to be hit a bit more often than usual since she had to keep a lookout for both herself and the Uchiha. As for Naruko, she was staying in the shadows, and she called out whenever she either felt or saw a flare of chakra in Kakashi's body that could possibly indicate he was preparing to launch a jutsu — _good, she knows when it's best to stay back._

All in all, they were doing rather well considering it was their first time being handicapped in such a way. But the way they were fighting was basic, almost Academy-level at most. Surely that wasn't all his team had?

Of course, Kakashi was proven wrong as, on Naruko's whistle, Sasuke suddenly signed an order to Sakura and leapt to the right three times while Sakura backflipped off the clone. They were, interestingly enough, in the exact same positions of the triangular formation they had assumed in the beginning of cornering the clone. And then Naruko started weaving an unknown sequence followed by Sakura and Sasuke — _Serpent, Boar, Dog_ — but the most surprising thing was that it had three different endings; Naruko ended in Hare, Sasuke's hands slid into Horse and Sakura's hands contorted into Rat. A circle of glowing green kanji lit up around the clone, the center circle running back to identical, but smaller, glowing circles at the three Genin's feet. It seems Naruko hadn't just been staying back — she had been laying down seals in preparation for immobilizing Kakashi's clone while her teammates distracted him.

Kakashi smiled proudly. There was definitely room to improve, and they were holding back quite a bit for fear of accidentally hitting each other — so they needed to work on trusting each other to take care of themselves more; sometimes such a closely-bonded team could be a pain to train with, but the advantages outweighed the disadvantages — and if Kakashi had been fighting at a higher level, he would've been able to take them out pretty easily. Granted, Team 7 had only just started giving him quite a bit of trouble during one-on-one spars, which was a great feat in itself.

' _Rookie of the Year, Top Kunoichi, and Deadlast_ ,' Kakashi mused to himself with a quiet chuckle. Those Academy-given titles were nothing more than a thing of the past, now — except for when the teammates were aiming to rile each other up — but sometimes Kakashi would pull out those titles to show them how far they had come and how different they were from the impressionable children who had graduated the Academy.

Sasuke — Rookie of the Year. A boy who cared for nothing more than avenging his clan by killing the one who was responsible for slaughtering them all. He had no interest in making friends, or being in a Genin Team. "They would only slow him down", had been his train of thought. But if you looked at him now, you wouldn't ever think those words would come out of his mouth. The Uchiha was now a boy who often joked and teased and made jabs at his teammates and friends. He didn't laugh much, but those rare smiles he did show were genuine. He was a prodigy; there was no doubt about that, especially with how he picked up the Chidori and due to his natural curiosity, Sasuke was always seeking out ways to become better. His pride-fueled stubbornness was something that still needed more than a bit of work, but luckily Sasuke had teammates who weren't afraid to knock him down a peg or two... or fifty. Kakashi rolled his eyes just thinking of the many occasions his hotheaded imouto had done just that. But the silver lining was that he was doing it for himself; it was no longer about being strong enough to kill Itachi, and that lifted an unprecedented weight off Kakashi's shoulders. However, there was still something dark and almost sinister lurking deep within the Uchiha that Kakashi couldn't figure out... and truthfully the Jonin wasn't sure he _wanted_ to. He wasn't sure if Sakura or Naruko could see it, or if Sasuke himself was aware of it. But for now, he didn't worry too much about it seeing as his two girls were doing a good job of being Sasuke's moral compass and humanity. But then there was the matter of having received Orochimaru's Curse Mark; Sasuke hadn't changed at all. So as long as he didn't fall victim to the Uchiha Curse of Hatred — with Naruko there, Kakashi sincerely doubted Sasuke would — then there really was nothing too much to worry about. The darkness inside him was dormant for now... but Kami help the poor soul who dare so much as harboured ill intent towards Sasuke Uchiha's precious people.

Sakura — Top Kunoichi. A civilian who was the first of her family to try and make it as a shinobi. It wasn't a life cut out for her at first, being the shy and timid and dainty girl she was. But Sakura had quickly realized just how far behind she was compared with her teammates, and rather than let it get her down, she found her own role on the team. Her knowledge and quick thinking had helped her team get out of many sticky situations, and she was not afraid to use her newfound strength to smash her teammates into doing her bidding; more often than not, to shut up and follow either her or their sensei's orders. Despite her less-than-auspicious start, Sakura was a part of Team 7, and she was both invaluable and irreplaceable — not just as a medic, but as a teammate, a comrade, a friend. While Sasuke and Naruko were the obvious heavy hitters with their respective backgrounds, the pinkette was the one who balanced them and held them together. Kakashi sometimes thought of Sakura as their innocence, their conscience, their moral compass — she was the only member of Team 7 who had yet experience just how cruel the world could be. But that was a good thing, for who else would keep them from going too far? Kakashi had a suspicion that, if anything were to happen to Naruko, Sasuke would go ballistic; the only other person who would get through to him would be Sakura, and even then Kakashi wasn't sure the pinkette would _want_ to stop him; she was fiercely protective over both her teammates — to the point where she radiated some of the strongest Killing Intent Kakashi had ever felt the first time Sakura had witnessed the village's treatment of Naruko firsthand — a trait that no one would have ever predicted. But then again, Kakashi conceded, if Sakura was the one who was hurt... no one would be able to stop Naruko or Sasuke.

Naruko — the Deadlast. And what a surprise that had been for her teammates when it had been revealed that it had all just been an act. But not all of it; for the most part, Naruko continued to be the exuberant and cheerful girl she had been in the Academy, albeit less obnoxious and a lot less oblivious to... well, everything. Her surprising apparent-bond with the Kyuubi allowed her to fight in whichever unorthodox way she pleased, as she demonstrated during the third phase of this year's Chuunin Exams. While she was not particularly prodigious in the same way Sasuke was despite having the same amount of curiosity, Naruko naturally gravitated towards eccentric ways of thinking — this, coupled with her natural aptitude for fūinjutsu, made her a shinobi to be wary of. And there was also her unexplained connections with foreign ninja, most of whom were quite high-ranked. But Kakashi already had suspicions as to how they knew each other. Putting that unanswered query aside for the moment, Kakashi wondered if it was her skills or her ability to make anyone — ally or enemy — her friend. After all, if she could "convert" the Uchiha avenger into a normal boy — well, as normal as one could be when he had his entire family slaughtered by his older brother when he was seven — and the Hyuuga branch prodigy her friend... Kakashi smiled and shook his head just thinking about it. It was all thanks to her that Sasuke was now decidedly loyal to Konoha, and that Sakura had finally found her confidence and, unexpectedly, a new passion. Kakashi knew that, should anything happen to Naruko, more than just her Genin team would be out for their blood; the entire Konoha 12, the Jonin Sensei, most of the ANBU Black Ops, the T&I Department, and apparently the Hyuuga branch clan... lanta only knows what Naruko did to gain their respect and loyalty.

Kakashi almost facepalmed; anyone who ever _dared_ to even think of touching _any_ member of Team 7 might as well kiss their lives goodbye and not even bother with the admittedly-suicidal attempt. Well, unless said remaining members were successfully neutralized...

A sudden shrill scream tore him out of his thoughts, and Kakashi launched off his branch when he saw Naruko slump onto the ground and disappear in a flash of black, just in time to miss the upending of the earth, courtesy of Sakura. Sasuke had torn off his blindfold at the pure terror in Sakura's voice, and was looking around haphazardly for his now-missing third teammate, alarm mixed with an undertone of fear painted across his face. Sakura's hands fumbled uselessly with her headphones before she finally yanked them down around her neck.

 _But of course, there was always someone idiotic enough to try what most would classify as suicidal..._

"Kakashi-sen—"

"Stay there!" Kakashi barked at his remaining Genin, cutting off Sakura's warning shout and also stopping Sasuke from running after the abductor. The Jonin was closing in on the flash of black as it wove its way through the foliage — _why was it so familiar with the geographical landscape?_ — but he was continuously having the dodge crudely-made smoke bombs. But it was the stripe of yellow slung over his shoulder that helped Kakashi keep track of him. And speaking of which; Kakashi inwardly cursed when he unconsciously took a deep breath of air and smelt faint traces of chloroform — with Naruko's enhanced sense of smell that nearly rivaled an Inuzuka's, it didn't take much more than a strong dose to knock her out cold. And sometimes it didn't even need to be held directly to her face, if the drug was potent enough. But no one besides himself, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama were supposed to know that.

As the Copy Ninja closed in on the assailant, the shinobi shot a look over his shoulder and let out a curse that was muffled by his thick mask. He pulled out a small black orb from his pocket, and muttered something. The orb suddenly started crackling with lightning, but Kakashi ignored the item, knowing that the shinobi was headed straight towards a sudden cliff, where he could easily corner him. That was his mistake — once the orb's surface was completely covered with a net of lightning, the shinobi threw it down and instantly disappeared in a violent thunderbolt.

"Damnit!" Kakashi shouted as he skidded to a stop. He grit his teeth, looking around briefly for a similar thunderbolt, on the faint chance that it would be a short-distance teleportation item and the flashiness was just a distraction — of course, no such luck. The Jonin hastily bit down on his thumb; "Summoning Jutsu!" He waited impatiently for the smoke to clear away, and once it did, he barked out before Pakkun could even utter a greeting, "Naruko's been taken. I chased them here until they teleported away. Find their scent and see if you can trace it back to someone you know, or even a Hidden Village. I don't care, just _find something!"_

Pakkun gave a sharp nod and turned to the rest of the summoned ninken, already barking out orders. Kakashi didn't stick around to see them disperse; he had a much more important task to do — inform the Hokage.

Kakashi turned and darted back into the forest the way he came, running just as fast as when he was pursuing Naruko's captor. His heart thrummed against his ribcage in a melody of — what he recognized with half-surprise — fear. Fear for what that ninja had wanted with his sister... fear of what they would do to her... fear of never seeing her again, of never hearing her laugh again, of never being able to eat her cooking, hear her voice welcome him home, even being the victim of her childish pranks... fear of losing yet another precious person.

He didn't spare a thought for Sasuke and Sakura, who were undoubtedly waiting anxiously for him to return. The only destination on his mind was the Hokage Tower — _he would later realize with great chagrin that he could've Shunshin'd to the Tower once he was back within Konoha borders_ — and the instant the red building was in sight, he scaled it until he reached the office window. Without hesitation, Kakashi slammed right into the glass, shattering it and effectively startling all of the occupants into drawing out their weapons.

Kakashi rolled to his feet, his eyes landing on a startled Tsunade as he ignored the other Jonin in the room. "Naruko... kidnapped..." he managed to gasp out between pants. That double run had taken a lot out of him, especially since he had to chase the assailant through Konoha's extensive outer forest and a few miles out of the village's border, and then returned at top speed.

" _What?"_ Tsunade practically roared, slamming her hands onto her table and creating a crack in the middle of it. "What do you mean Naruko's been kidnapped?"

"I would imagine that's exactly what it means," Hiruzen, who had been sitting on the other side of the Hokage's desk, said dryly, though there was a troubled look in his eyes.

"Already have the ninken... searching the site..." Kakashi's breathing was slowing back to normal but his heart was beating just as fast. "He teleported... I was going to corner him at the cliff... but then he used some sort of lightning orb to get away..."

Tsunade fell back into the Hokage Chair, slapping a hand over her eyes. "Trust the shrimp to pull this kind of shit right before my inauguration..."

"Lightning orb?" Kurenai repeated, her brow furrowed.

Kakashi looked to his left and blinked — the other Jonin sensei, Genma, Yugao, Hayate, Jiraiya and the aforementioned Third Hokage were in the room as well. "...was I late for a meeting?" he asked blandly.

"Yes," Asuma answered distractedly, "but that hardly matters now. Was the kidnapper wearing a black cloak with red clouds?"

Kakashi shot him an annoyed look. "I _know_ what the Akatsuki looks like, thank you very much. If you've forgotten, may I remind you that _I_ came to _your_ aid against Kisame and Itachi?"

Asuma swallowed a retort; the only reason he wasn't snapping back at Kakashi was because he very clearly remembered how the Jonin could be whenever Naruko was injured or ill as a child. It was like whenever something happened to the young blonde, something snapped in Kakashi and he would use anger to cover up how scared he was, and would lash out at those who dared to come close. That was something they had discovered during the time Naruko, as an eleven-year-old, suddenly came down with a rather severe case of pneumonia. It had been anything but a pleasant experience — the reason Asuma remembered that occasion with startling clarity was because it was the first time Naruko had fallen ill, and after a vexing day with a snappy Kakashi, Asuma had reluctantly come back to grab something of Kurenai's and accidentally saw Kakashi sitting at a sleeping Naruko's bedside with the most vulnerable and lost look on his face. It was the same expression Asuma had seen on the day the Yondaime Hokage and his wife died. That was when Kakashi's defense mechanism was realized, and they all started to make extra efforts to be patient with the man. Thankfully, once Naruko was better, Kakashi returned to his usual self and had even apologized to them for his behaviour.

"Alright, easy there, Kakashi," Gai came to his rescue, laying a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "We will find Naruko. Hokage— er, Tsunade-sama?"

"Right..." Tsunade's eyes lingered on Minato's portrait for a moment before snapping into action; "Kurenai, gather your team and have them meet up with Kakashi's ninken. I know they're only Genin, but Team 8 was specifically assembled for tracking. Do not tell them of the circumstances just yet — we don't want people to know Naruko has been taken from within Konoha's walls. As for you, Kakashi, get the rest of your team and come back here. Yugao, you may gather a small squad of ANBU to begin a search. Hayate, go to the T&I Department and alert Ibiki and Anko... if she's there. Asuma, take your old man home to rest. Gai, stay here — I'm going to need you when Team 7's Genin show up."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" the shinobi said as one, before leaving to do their respective jobs.

And as he turned down the hallway to exit the Hokage Tower, Asuma glanced back at Kakashi's disappearing figure. ' _Naruko... please,_ please _be alright. For Kakashi's sake, if nothing else..._ '

* * *

"...how much chloroform did you _use_ , you brawny meathead?"

 **"Keep your breathing steady, don't even twitch,"** Kurama growled quietly at the back of her head. Naruko obeyed; she had been about to open her eyes to see the owner of the unfamiliar voice, but the Bijuu's orders sounded like the more sensible course of action, now that she really thought about it.

' _What happened?'_

 **"Someone knew and took advantage of your enhanced sense of smell and set off a strong-ass stench of chloroform. Well, strong for your senses... it knocked you right out and this dude kidnapped you. Your adoptive brother was running after you, but the dude used a kind of orb that fortune-tellers do to teleport himself away,"** Kurama answered almost amusedly.

Naruko almost sweatdropped at the comical explanation. ' _That's Kurama; never gives a straight answer without throwing in_ some _wry humour_ ,' she thought, pulling up a partial wall so that he wouldn't be able to hear and respond to that particular train of thought. Letting down the wall, Naruko then asked, ' _Are you able to tell where we are?'_

 **"Um... perhaps now is not the best time..."**

Naruko's brow twitched together when she felt a persistent prodding in her ribs. Finally cracking her eyes open, she saw a brown leather shoe nudging her ribs repeatedly. It wasn't enough to be painful, but enough to certainly be felt and to be annoying. ' _Guess there's no helping it..._ ' Giving an internal sigh, Naruko rolled further onto her back and squinted up at the tall man before her; he had brush-like hair that spiked up, coloured a gradient of white at the roots and mint-green at the top. Two locks of hair draped over his face — one on the right and one in the center — but it was two symmetrical diagonal lines that caught Naruko's attention. They were connected to his inner eyebrows and descended to half an inch underneath his eyes... it looked like someone had drawn a crack in his face. **(1)** Naruko idly thought he looked to be the type of boy that Ino would call a "lady killer", but despite that, it was the cold, calculating gleam in his garnet-red eyes that had shivers running down her spine.

Her eyes caught on the grey symbol stitched onto the breast pocket of his white lab coat — three cloud-like symbols, two of which were connected. She was in Kumogakure.

 **"Ugh, what the hell is it with Kumo and kidnapping Konoha shinobi?"** Kurama grumbled. **"First it was your mother, then Hinata, and now you. Good lanta, you'd think they'd learn by now. Although,"** he paused, **"this is the only successful kidnapping attempt out of three. And I'm not saying that Konoha isn't searching for you, but this seems a little odd to me..."**

' _Well it's not like I could've left a trail,_ ' Naruko sighed resignedly, ' _I was knocked unconscious the whole trip._ '

 **"And both your teammates were critically handicapped and Kakashi was observing from a distance when the shinobi ambushed you. In the past two cases, Kushina dropped her red hair while Hinata was taken from the compound, so it was obvious the latter wasn't going to work. But still, something seems _too_ convenient... they shouldn't have been able to take you that easily."**

"Naruko Uzumaki, yes?" The man was looking at a small clipboard, but his piercing gaze fell on her. Naruko could only manage a wordless nod. "Hmm, let's see... _Date of Birth: October 10th 1994. Parents: Deceased_ — orphan since birth? How interesting. _Gender: Female._ Heh, obviously. _Age: Thirteen. Height: 146.2 cm._ Isn't that a little... short for a thirteen-year-old? _Status: Genin of Konohagakure, as of October 3rd 2002. Genin Team: Team 7 under Jonin Sensei Kakashi Hatake and teammates are Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha._ Well, this is exhilarating."

Naruko's brow furrowed. ' _How the hell did he get all that information? That's sensitive Konoha-only information. If he has all of that... does he know I'm a jinchuuriki?'_

 **"Doubt it,"** Kurama answered, his voice laced with wary suspicion. **"He appears to be the type who loves showing off, so if he knew he would've mentioned it along with everything else. But I do agree with that question of how the hell did he get all of that information? And why is he concerned about your _height?"_**

The man looked at her for a moment more before jerking his head. "Come with me."

Naruko slowly got to her feet and trailed after him, feeling like a lost puppy. Her eyes flickered around discreetly; everything was dark, and what few lights they had were cold artificial lights coloured a pale blue. All in all... it looked like a secret, illegal experimental laboratory. Naruko idly wondered if this was what Orochimaru's hideouts looked like.

"My name is Dr. Senku Ichinose," the man said, not even turning around to look at her. "I'm a scientist, researcher, whatever you want to call it." He stopped before a door and turned to face the girl with a smirk. "What is beyond this door shall never be revealed to anyone outside of the lab. Of course, I won't have to worry about _you_ spilling my secrets." The ominous gleam in his red eyes caused Naruko to shift uncomfortably, but she didn't say a word. Seemingly pleased at her lack of words, he twisted the doorknob and beckoned her. "Come."

Naruko hesitated, but ultimately deemed it to be in her best interest to obey the man. There was no telling what he would do to her if she defied him. And while she would've loved to, this Senku Ichinose was dangerous — perhaps not in the way S-rank rogue shinobi were, but dangerous in the sense that he held absolutely no regard for human life, and would therefore feel no remorse in using her as a lab rat.

The kunoichi cautiously stepped into the room, and at Senku's pointed look, slowly approached what looked like a metal box with a glass pane for a lid. Rising onto her toes in order to see what was inside, Naruko instantly dropped back down and started to back away, eyes wide and hands pressed tightly to her mouth.

' _How...?'_

* * *

 **(1) Yes, this is Senku Ishigami from the anime** Dr. Stone **. If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend! You don't even have to be a science geek like me to enjoy it :P**

 **A/N: Yeah... so originally this chapter was supposed to be around 23,700+ words long (it was already at 23,780 and I was only halfway done with the chapter), but then I realized that's probably a little bit too much to read all at once, so I split it up into two chapters... have fun with this little cliffhanger :)**


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